


Kipona Aloha

by MrGerudoMan



Category: Original Work
Genre: Boyfriends, Diving, Gay, Gay Male Character, Hawaii, Hawaiian Character, Hispanic Character, Latino Character, M/M, Military, Military Backstory, Military Families, Navy, Rules, Scuba Diving
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 54,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25155823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrGerudoMan/pseuds/MrGerudoMan
Summary: A story by myself for AlCharlie on DeviantArt. Featuring his characters Kai Ka'aukai and Gabriel Romero exploring the wonderful world of scuba diving in the Hawaiian Islands, and along the way they explore themselves, and their love for one another.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 2





	1. The Navy Brat and the Scuba Diver

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlCharlie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlCharlie/gifts).



“Alright class, let’s settle down now. We’ve got a new transfer student starting today, and I’d like to let him introduce himself to the class. So if we could all sit down, put our phones away and shut up for two seconds so he can speak, that’d be great.” 

My new homeroom teacher was the most chill dude I’d ever seen in charge of a classroom. He leaned back in his desk chair watching over us students like we were some peculiar lab experiment and he was our omnipotent creator. Like he’d probably catch some students smoking weed in his class and he’d be cool with it as long as they slid him a joint or two under the desk. I loathed that about him. I’d only known the man for a few minutes and I already despised his teaching style. That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works! You’re the professor, goddammit! Show some authority! 

Clearly, the rest of my homeroom knew about his lax rules too, as the group of about 20 or so high school freshmen continued scrolling through their Twitter feeds. I made my way up to the front of the room to give my introductions, stepping up to his podium and taking the Expo dry erase marker from the whiteboard to write my name out in large black print, making sure it was as legible as possible. “Gabriel Romero.” Then I turn, standing at the podium and look out over my peers. A Latino boy standing out over a group of Native Hawaiians and Asian Americans. It was a battlefield to be conquered for sure.

“Hello, my name is Gabriel Romero.” I began, “I’m 14 years old and I live on base at Pearl Harbor. My father is a Navy pilot and we moved here when he got transferred from the Naval Air Station in Fort Worth, Texas to Pearl Harbor here in Honolulu. I’m-” 

“So you’re a Navy brat?” one student interrupted me. I hate it when people interrupt me. Wait until I’m done talking and then I’ll answer your questions. That’s how it’s supposed to work. 

“Yes, you could say I’m a Navy brat.” I answered, begrudgingly, “This is my third move in less than two years. Before I lived in Fort Worth, we lived in Pensacola, Florida, and-”

“Oh great, another brat!” another student moaned, “I guess you’re not gonna be around here for too long are you?” Another interruption. Goddammit I’m really starting to hate this class already.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, “We’re at the whims of my father’s commanding officer and-”

“God your accent is annoying.” a third student chimed in, berating my accent, “Why can’t you just talk normally?! Teach, do you have a translator?”

“Excuse me?” I was doing my best to keep my accent in check, but I guess it wasn’t enough. I admit I’ve got a pretty nasty combination of southern drawl from my two homes in Florida and Texas, with Latinx pronunciations. It’s a curse that I’ve maintained from my mother’s Hispanic heritage. Her first language was Español after all, so naturally she passed that along to me. My father, on the other hand, is African American, raised in the south his whole life. So naturally, he has a thick accent and drawl that he passed along to me. It’s a toxic combination to say the least.  
“Nope, ‘fraid not, Josh.” he said, seeming to agree with the student, “You’re just gonna have to cope until it fades.” 

“You’re agreeing with him?!” At this point I was just livid. My introductions had been completely derailed by my peers and even by my professor. Already I was missing Ft. Worth. Within seconds of the exchange, the classroom descended into abject chaos, with my classmates hailing insults at me, and the professor not caring one way or another about his new pupil’s predicament. I resigned myself to my desk, retreating from the podium to the back of the classroom, next to the window. 

“Alright alright, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to brass tacks, shall we?” my professor said, dismissing my introductions and moving on to his class, though I was too distraught to focus on his lecture, instead I tuned him out and his class of misfits. All I cared about at this point was making my way through this move without making any new friends. Nothing. Else. Mattered. 

===/One Week Later/===

“One. Two. Three. Four. One. Two. Three. Four.” 

It’s been a week since my first day of school, and things haven’t gotten too much better since then, but at the same time things haven’t gotten any worse, so that’s good, right? Being the fighter I am, I joined the school’s wrestling team, just like at my two previous schools. Now I wrestle with the Moanalua High School Nā Menehune, whatever those are. I managed to fit in alright with that crowd, a lot of them being from military families like me, so they understood my plight. Most of the student body, in fact, was military, but they were all still native to the islands, so they were quite hostile to outsiders. It was a very tribal community from what I’d seen. 

Either way, my opinions on my homeroom classmates and teacher hadn’t changed at all since that first day. It didn’t matter to me that they weren’t going to accept me as one of their own. I was fine with that. In Ft. Worth, I had become overly attached to the friends I had made there, and it crushed me to find out that we were moving yet again. This time, I was determined not to screw up again. I wouldn’t be that same moping boy that got on the plane for Hawaii, leaving behind a city of friends. No. I wasn’t about to let that happen again, and if that meant living a life of seclusion, then I was fully prepared to make that sacrifice. 

“Five. Six. Seven. Eight.” I counted up as I ran. I jogged every day almost, wearing a tank with my former school’s name on it and some basketball shorts. I went from my home on Ford Island, crossing the bridge, then headed out towards the beaches and then back inland, though I varied it a little bit from day to day. The whole route lasted a good five or six miles, but I was used to worse. My father had drilled into me the importance of regulations, repetition, and restrictions (oh my) at an early age, and I took those teachings with me everywhere I went and practiced them in every facet of my life. I quickly found out that the culture of Hawaii ran counter to my beliefs, but I wasn’t about to let myself be changed by it. 

I continued on my jog, making my way through the Salt Lake neighborhood before heading back to base, all the while listening to a playlist of electronic/dance music with hip hop and rap, and a sampling of traditional Latin guitar. The whole jog was rather uneventful. Very repetitive and the same as it was the previous few days I went out. Same people, same homes, same streets, same weather. Who knew you could get sick of paradise? 

That is, except for this one shop I found by the harbor. 

On my way back, I took a slight detour down towards the water, going under the bridge before heading back over it to the island. Along the way, I ran into this store that caught me off guard. As I passed it, I glanced into the window, noticing something peculiar on display inside. All at once, I come to a complete stop, sweating buckets and panting like a dog from my run, and just stare inside. The marquee sign out front was incredibly weathered, covered in faded blue paint, with the words “Ka’aukai Dive and Surf Shop” painted on over the aged blue. I pressed my head against the glass, trying to see what all was inside. From what I could tell from outside, the shop was filled with a myriad of diving equipment. Air tanks, wetsuits of various sizes and colors, masks of all types, and various other types of gear for divers both novice and pro. In the window were two mannequins, one outfitted in just a wetsuit, mask, and snorkel, while the other (the one that got my attention) showed off a whole rig, tank and all. The entire setup was intriguing, and I contemplated going inside, but I was running behind schedule. I needed to get going and-.

“Looks good, doesn’t it?” 

Before I can get a move on, I’m stopped in my tracks by a voice coming from the door. Startled, I turn to face this person, and I’m greeted by a pudgy boy around my age. He wore a T-shirt with the store logo and shorts, with a short wetsuit on underneath it all. His black hair was cut very short, nearly shaved, and his skin kissed by the sun. At first I thought he was Native Hawaiian but upon further inspection he actually appeared to possess Asian features as well, Japanese to be more precise, blended with the Hawaiian ones, most probably half of both island nations to be honest. His eyes, blue as the sea, looked at me with the utmost cheer and kindness. There was no malice in him whatsoever. 

“Oh… I… uh…” I stuttered, caught off guard, “I was just looking is all. Sorry but I’ve gotta go now.” I started to walk away from him, but he wasn’t about to let me got off that easily.

“Wait… I’ve seen you at school! Aren’t you that new kid from Texas?” he asked, “Gabe, wasn’t it?” 

“It’s Gabriel, actually.” I corrected him. I didn’t like being called Gabe, but he didn’t seem to care about that. 

“Gabriel’s too long, man.” he insisted, “I’ll just call you Gabe instead. Anyways, Aloha! The name’s Kai. Kai Ka’aukai. It’s nice to meet you!” 

“Aloha…” _Why is he being so kind to me? He doesn’t know me and I don’t know him. Regardless, I need to get going._ “I’m sorry but I’ve really got to get going. I’ve got an assignment due tomorrow that I need to get to work on, so if you’ll excuse me…” 

“Why don’t you come in?” Kai was completely blowing off my excuses at this point, clearly he didn’t care all that much that I was on a tight schedule (that I made myself), “Be a shame to come all this way and just look, right?” 

“Well… yeah that’s true, but I really don’t have time right now.” 

“Nonsense!” Kai grabbed my arm this time, literally dragging me into the store by force. I’d never seen anything like that before. Such determination blew me away. That’s not how this is supposed to work. You can’t just force me into something!

“Hey, what are y-?” 

“You can work on that assignment later.” he insisted, “Pull an all nighter if you have to. But this is now, and I like to live in the now. C’mon, let’s take a look around, Gabe.” Despite my protests, the fat boy led me by the arm into his diving shop.

We burst through the front door, and were greeted by an array of equipment just in the first few steps. The whole place was rather tight and cluttered, maybe even disorganized. The whole place smelled of rubber, canned air, and pineapple, that last probably from an air freshener somewhere inside. The smell alone caught me off guard, but the fact that it was THIS cramped inside was even more shocking. You’d think they’d invest in a larger store with all this product inside, but I guess that’s not always the case. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but feel impressed by the whole thing. It was quaint, I guess. 

“Welcome,” Kai said, “to Ka’aukai Dive and Surf! Serving all your oceanic needs since 1984!” 

“‘Big Brother is always watching you.’” I quoted, remembering George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel of the same name.

“Heh, we actually have that on the wall.” he said, chuckling, “Lemme show you.” He went deeper into the shop, directing me to follow him. Although I wanted nothing to do with him at this point, I obeyed and followed along like some puppy. He led me towards the register along the right wall, where behind it was the famous quote, with the company logo right below it. A type of cute way to tell people “don’t shoplift” I suppose. I couldn’t help but gawk at it in all honesty. It was actually pretty neat, I’ll give him that. 

“Nice…” I said, “So… this whole place is yours?” 

“Yeah, mine and my family’s.” he stated, “My parents are avid scuba divers, and so am I. They decided they wanted to share the love with the world, so they started this place.” 

“A family of divers, eh?” 

“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun! Here, let me show you all the gear we’ve got!” Kai took my hand again, taking me on a full tour of his shop. His hand was warm and soft, almost like that of a child. Something about it felt… welcoming and pleasant to me and… wait why am I focusing so much on his hand. This is weird, forget that. 

“So we’ve got all sorts of different gears in here, each is unique in their own way.” he explained, grabbing the first set of gear from the shelf next to him, “This is your standard mouthpiece regulator. It’s what probably 98% of divers use when they go diving.”

“Yeah I’ve seen it a lot before.” I admitted. The regulator was rather small, connecting to a hose on the side that would be connected to an air tank during a dive.

“Yeah. So what you do is you put it in your mouth like this,” he took the regulator and put it in his mouth, turning to the side so I could see what was going on. Kai bit down on the rubber mouthpiece on the inside of it, holding the regulator in his mouth by his teeth. He even took his hands out to demonstrate. With it in, he was completely mute, unable to speak to me at all about its features. He took the regulator out a few seconds later, and kept on talking about it. 

“...and you breathe in from there. Admittedly there’s sort of a special way you have to breathe when this thing is in your mouth but I’m not gonna get into that. It’s a little complicated and I don’t wanna bore you with rules and such.” Ironically, I would’ve loved to hear the manucia rules about how it works, but I didn’t say anything. 

“Nice….”

“Yeah that’s actually my least favorite gear to use. Can’t talk to anyone with it on and it hurts my teeth holding it for so long. No thanks.”

“How many gears have you dived with before?” 

“Oh all of them. I don’t mean to brag but I’ve tested out every piece of equipment in this store personally, and I can say without a doubt, the work perfectly.” Kai smirked as he basked in his humblebrag. I, however, was skeptical of his lofty claim.

“You’ve seriously tested out everything in here?” I questioned him.

“Yep. Every single thing. I can tell you the ins and outs of everything.” 

“I see….” I wanted nothing more than to call bullshit on his claim, but I kept my trap shut. This place was turning out a little too interesting for me to anger my host, even though I didn’t want to admit that to him. 

“Anyways, moving on.” He took my hand again, and led me towards the back of the store, were some more exclusive and expensive equipment was at. 

“Now here,” he said, holding up a different type of mask compared to the one on the mannequin, “here we have the AGA mask. See how it’s got a square visor in the front and an inner mask inside?” 

“Yeah?”

“That’s how you can tell it’s an AGA, as well as this horizontal regulator and exhaust on the right here.” He pointed towards the circular exhaust vent on the mask’s right side, “Those are trademarks of the AGA. There’s benefits to diving with masks like the AGA and the EXO-BR. They allow you to breathe normally and communicate with other divers or the surface. This inner mask also gives you a level of anonymity, especially when combined with a hood, which makes this a favorite of police departments and the military.”

“Huh… you seem to like this one a lot more than the regulator.” 

“Well don’t you? It’s just awesome!” I couldn’t help but agree, the AGA was pretty intriguing. Something about it made me think of spy movies and secret operations underwater.

“Yeah I’ll admit.” I said, begrudgingly.

“Oh c’mon that was weak!” Kai said, berating me for my less than enthusiastic approach, “It’s great! Wait I know! This one’s really gonna rock your socks off.” He took my hand and took me behind the desk and into the back room, past the door with the “employees only” sign on, actively breaking rules in the process. I felt sick to my stomach when we passed through that door. Total disregard for the rule of law and the way things work. I wanted nothing more than to vomit after that, I felt so disgusted.   
“Now this,” he said, grabbing and ovular mask off the nearest shelf in the back, “this is a very special mask, that we don’t even sell to customers. I like to call it the dual hose mask. So you put it over your face like this.” Kai reached up and put the mask on, covering his whole face behind it, “AND YOU ATTACH THE TWO HOSES TO EITHER SIDE!” he screamed through the glass, pointing towards the two ports on the bottom quadrants of the mask. The diver took the mask off, putting it back on the shelf. 

“Huh…” 

“That mask is so special, we actually have special wetsuits and tanks for it. The wetsuits are full body and have attached hoods and matching gloves and special flippers. Mostly black with one extra color in it or completely monotone, and they’re very shiny rubber. It’s actually pretty cool to wear. We also have on a double air tank held on by only two straps and no weight belt.” 

“No weight belt? Sounds kind of dangerous.”

“It is a little bit. That’s why we don’t sell it to others. It’s strictly for personal use.” 

“I see…” 

“C’mon…” Kai nudged, “I know you find it cool. C’mon…. C’mon Gabe.” The chubby diver was really egging me onto it, but alas I couldn’t blow it off.

“Alright I’ll give you that. It’s pretty cool looking.”

“YES! Oh but I’ve got one better than that! The Holy Grail of diving gear right here!” He took my hand again, heading deeper into the cramped storage area. He stopped right in front of probably the strangest thing I’d seen in that shop yet. Sitting on the shelf on the left side of the room was a dome shaped helmet made completely of clear glass. The helmet alone blew me away, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. But little did I know that was just the first part. 

“This,” Kai said, picking up the strange device, “This is LAMA gear. The most unique gear I’ve ever dived with.”  
“You can say that again.” I blurted out. 

“You like it? Just wait it gets better.” he picked up helmet’s base, a large plastic casing with a webbing inside. “This is where the magic happens. So you take the gear and put it on like this.” he took the gear up into the air, and put it down over his head, resting it on his shoulders. His head was completely cut off from the rest of his body with it on, as it formed a massive collar around his neck. A hose came out from the side of the gear, wrapping around to the back at an exhaust vent and then another one hung loose, presumably going to an air tank. 

“And you take that glass dome, the bubble helmet, and click it in place on here.” He took the gear off, putting it back on the shelf. “Diving with that was the most fun I’ve ever had underwater. Hah…. I love it so much! I just wish I had more people to dive with with it.” 

“Your parents won’t?” 

“No they actually hate this gear, that’s why we don’t sell it. It’s one of the hardest things you can dive with. With all that weight on top, you’re forced to dive upright. It’s hard to get used to. So they don’t dive with it.” 

“Wow… That’s… I’m sorry man. I wish there was something I could do.” 

“It’s alright. It’s not like you can dive with me… wait…” 

“What?” Gears were turning in his head, and I was getting nervous. Kai wasn’t about to suggest _that,_ was he?

“Wait… Yeah… Yeah that could work! Gabe!” 

“Y-Yeah?” 

“How would you like to go LAMA diving with me?” 

“S-Scuba diving?! Bu-But I’ve never been before!” 

“Not a problem, I’ll tell you everything you need to know! I’ll even give you a license just like that. No classes or nothing! Certified scuba diver, Gabriel Romero! Just like that!” The blatant disregard for regulations, back with a force. I nearly fainted when he suggested that! I couldn’t even believe he was telling me those things! I felt compelled to just blow him off right there. But I didn’t. Why didn’t I? What about him told me I should take him seriously?! 

“I...I don’t know… That seems reckless….” 

“Oh c’mon, please? Pretty please? I promise I’ll be right there with you the whole time! I’ll tell you everything you need to know so nothing bad happens! Please I haven’t gone LAMA diving in ages, please won’t you go with me?” Kai’s eyes grew wide and watery, he was practically begging me at this point. The longer he went on the harder it was for me to say no. Plus, those blue eyes seemed to stare into my soul, almost like Kai knew, deep down, I wanted to do everything he was saying, but something prevented me from saying that outright. I didn’t know what to think anymore. The offer left me utterly helpless. 

“I… I’ll do it.” I said finally, “I’ll dive with you Kai Ka’aukai.” 

“You will? OH THANK YOU!” the young diver was ecstatic that I said yes he reached over and wrapped me in a big bear hug, lunging forward and embracing me in his arms. 

My face lit up with shock as I was hugged to death by the chubby diver. If it wasn’t for my muscle, I would’ve collapsed right onto the floor, but I kept upright, holding the diver in my own arms. Inside, I was as conflicted as could be. His hug was warm and kind, just like him, and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, being this close to him, touching him like this. It was the same feeling I had when he held my hand for the first time. I couldn’t explain it at all, but I let it happen. I held him in my arms, my face awash with blush, and the warm feelings continued, but the whole time I was drawing a blank. I guess that didn’t really matter right then and there. 

What did matter was scuba diving for the first time. To say I was nervous about it would’ve been an understatement. 

===/Two Days Later/===

“WOOHOO!! IT FEELS GREAT TO BE BACK ON THE WATER!!” 

Kai was cheering like a kid at Six Flags as we sped across the waters of the Pacific on his boat. It was two days since we had first met, and throughout those two days I was totally struck with paralyzing anxiety. Thoughts of the dive had swirled in my head and it was impossible for me to think of anything else. Even then, I still remembered to partake in my jog over those two days, both times making my way back to Kai’s shop for some reason. I guess I couldn't really help myself. I was pretty curious about what else he had inside, plus I couldn’t deny that I liked talking with him, another weird thing about the two of us that irked me. 

“How long has it been since you last went diving?” I asked him. 

“Oh it’s probably been a month or so.” Kai replied, “My parents are both very busy working with tourists and such, so I’m often alone in the shop. I don’t get a lot of time to come out here.” 

“I see….” his predicament was remarkably similar to my own. The only difference being that I made myself too busy for free time, while he had no choice in the matter. Regardless, he ripped through the waves like a champ, tearing up the ocean as if he were on land on a 4-wheeler. The salt tinged Hawaiian wind whipped through my short hair, and kept us cool. If it was just a little bit cooler outside, and if the windshield wasn’t there protecting us, we would’ve surely froze in our wetsuits. 

Kai’s parents had provided us with everything we could need for our dive together. The gear, the boat, a manual for me, everything I could possibly ask for, they were kind enough to lend to me. They had even gotten me a custom fit wetsuit just for me. While I begged them to pay for the gear, they told me to think of it as a gift, as thanks for being so friendly to Kai. Just like Kai, they were extremely friendly, unable to thank me enough for being a friend to Kai. “We’ve never seen him get so worked up over someone else before.” they had said to me, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he really likes you, Mr. Romero.” I… uh… I couldn’t really figure out what that meant, but I guess they were just grateful is all. 

My suit was equal parts black and blue, and covered my whole body from my neck down to my ankles, leaving only my hands and feet exposed. A little extra feature, something Kai was insistent that I add to the suit, were stirrups at my feet. They were completely flush with the suit, made of the same material as the rest. Kai claimed that they would help keep my suit’s legs from riding up, which I guess it wasn’t a good thing, so I went along with them. Initially, the whole thing felt really weird on me, but I grew to like it. I just wish it wasn’t so hard to put on. It didn’t leave a lot for the imagination that was for sure. I couldn’t imagine what some of the girls who liked to watch me at wrestling practice would think of me in it. At least Kai seemed to like it. 

Speaking of him, he was wearing the spring suit he had on underneath his outfit when we met. So instead of having his arms and legs covered in neoprene like mine, he was instead exposed on both fronts. I could only imagine he was much colder than I was with this wind. His suit was orange and black instead of my blue and black, and was also much simpler in design, sporting a single, thick orange stripe that ran the length of his torso from his neck down, as well as orange rings at the seams where the suit ended. Between the two of us, it was hard to tell who wore their suit better, though judging from Kai’s face when I put mine on, it was clear he thought I looked a lot better in mine than he did in his. 

All of our gear was stored away behind us. Our bubble helmets, air tanks, LAMA gear, weight belts, gloves, and flippers were all in separate duffel bags with our names on them. I hadn’t gotten a chance to look inside before Kai had pushed me onto the boat. The whole procedure of donning the suit and getting on the boat was much more relaxed than I would’ve liked it to be. Kai rushed through everything, confident that he had everything all taken care of without needing to go over it again. It was part of him that I wasn’t sure I could get used to, but nevertheless that was how he operated, and who was I to tell him different? He was the one with more experience after all. I knew nothing about anything. I was there to learn, and him to teach. 

“How much longer until we’re there, Kai?” I leaned over and asked him, looking back to see that we had already gone pretty far from where we started. We sailed out from Pearl Harbor, heading due west from there, towards Barbers Point. However, we veered away from land, heading further out into the ocean. While Kai had been more than happy to explain all the diving gear he owned, he was very tight lipped about this diving spot. No matter how many times I asked him, he never said where we were going.

“We’re just about there….” he said, looking at his map, “...yep! Here we are!” The young diver stopped the boat, right out in the middle of nowhere. The mountains of Oahu loomed to the north, still very much visible even this far out. With the boat stopped, Kai got to work putting down the anchor and then getting us ready for the dive. 

“Alright then!” Kai started, “First dive ever. Are you nervous, Gabe?” 

“Little bit.” I said, “But I’m ready.” 

“You remember everything that I told you about, right?” he asked.

“Of course.” I answered. Before we even left, Kai had gone over with me some of the basics of diving, specifically diving with LAMA gear on. Basically what he said was to keep yourself upright, keep an eye on your air and the time, be mindful of where you are, and don’t go off on your own. Pretty simple stuff. 

“Great!” he clapped, “SUIT UP!” Immediately, the chubby Hawaiian boy knelt down and opened up his duffel bag, pulling out all of his gear and going through the motions of putting it on. I did the same, but I was nowhere near as swift as he was. 

When I opened my bag, I was honestly overwhelmed by all the gear that was inside. To the one side was my LAMA rig, on the other was my bubble helmet, and in the middle was everything from the air tank to the flippers, gloves, and weight belt that I was to wear. I took the suiting procedure very slowly, making sure I did nothing wrong. I started with the small stuff: my weight belt and flippers and gloves. When I picked up the weight belt, I was actually rather shocked at how heavy it was. I had to pick it up with two hands or else I was gonna drop it and break the helmet. Carefully, I took the belt and wrapped it around my waist, securing it tightly to my body. I tried standing up with it, and was shocked as I struggled to do so. It was a pretty eye opening thing to say the least. 

“Jesus…” I gasped, “You have to dive with this much weight?!” 

“Yep.” Kai said, working on strapping his orange LAMA gear down already, “If you don’t you’re not going to stay under the water.” 

“I see… wait how are you already putting on your rig?” I asked, flabbergasted that he was already that far along, while I had just started, “We started at the same time, how are you already that far?” 

“Dunno. Guess I’m just so used to putting this on by now.” 

“So you don’t run any checks or anything?” 

“Well yeah I run checks occasionally, just I don’t need to do them so much. Now c’mon let’s get a move on!” His brazen disrespect for the process blew me away, but at this point it wasn’t as sickening to me as before. I had grown numb to his lax nature, as I knew i wasn’t going to change him anytime soon. I just blew it off and moved on to the rest of my gear. 

I pulled out my flippers, near the bottom of the bag, slipping them onto my feet no problem. They were mostly light blue with a darker blue circle that took up the whole of the end of the blade. A rather simple design. I slipped them on, adjusting the strap at the back so they fit snug on my feet, and then got my gloves. They too were light blue, to contrast with the rest of my suit’s darker blue, and they fit over my wrists, covering up my whole hand. They were tight and snug on my hands, custom fit just for me. I clenched my fists in them, feeling them move with my hands. 

Now for the hard part: the LAMA gear itself. 

To say that donning the gear was clumsy would be an understatement. The blue gear was big and bulky, and it was already connected to the tank with hoses and straps, so I had to put the gear on as a whole. Kai claimed that having them already together made putting it on a little easier, but there’s no way that was true. I took the gear in my hands, making sure that I didn’t let the tank drag or anything, and tried desperately to put it on. I unbuckled the straps at the front, and tried sticking my head through the center of the rig, but unfortunately it was a bit too cumbersome for me to put on, not to mention heavy. Now I’m rather muscular, a little more ripped than most 14 year olds, but even I had a hard time lifting that. 

“Uh…” I said, lost in the gear’s complexities, “Maybe like this…?” I tried and tried and tried, but nothing seemed to work for me. Kai, already fully suited up and holding his bubble helmet in his arm, looked over and saw my struggles, unable to contain himself. 

“Hehe… having some trouble over there, Gabe?” he grinned. 

“I… yeah…” I admitted, hesitating. 

“Here, let me help.” Kai walked over to me, putting his bubble helmet down and taking the gear from me. 

“It’s easier if you stand up while putting this on.” he said, “So stand up.” Unable to refuse, I did as I was told and stood up, blushing a little bit as he held my gear in his hands. Kai took the gear, and raised it up over my head and brought it down slowly. I ducked down so that the air tank could be at my back while he helped me put it on. As if by magic, all the straps and hoses cooperated for Kai and rested in place, not getting caught up on my body or anything. I poked my head through the apparatus, as it came to a rest on my shoulders. Kai knelt down and made sure that my harness was good and tight so that it wouldn’t go flying off during the dive. 

“See?” he said, “It’s not that hard. It just takes a bit of practice is all.”  
“Th-thank you, Kai.” I blushed, embarrassed that I had to be helped by him. Kai knelt down and handed me my bubble helmet, which I took gratefully. The helmet felt very large and delicate in my hands, as if the glass bubble would pop with just a poke, but that large blue weight on the top of it meant that probably wasn’t going to happen. 

“Now then,” Kai said, picking up his bubble helmet again and walking over to the back of the boat, “let’s get on with it!” Clumsily, I followed him over as well. The flippers on my feet made the short trek difficult, as I had to try and make sure I wouldn’t trip over my fins. In any event, I made my way over, and stood next to Kai, looking out over the beautiful Pacific Ocean, diving gear on and bubble helmets in hand, ready to jump in. The pressure was killing me. My first ever dive, much less first scuba dive, and with a completely foreign gear to boot. My body was shaking I was so anxious. Tensions were high, but Kai glanced over to me, and gave me a reassuring glance, and somehow that was all I needed. 

“You got this, Gabe.” he said. Immediately, I stopped shaking, taking his words to heart. I couldn’t really explain it, but when I looked at him everything seemed alright. It was a weird feeling and I couldn’t shake it. All I could do was blush. I mean… I didn’t think I was… was I really? 

“Yeah!” I said, giving him a thumbs up and a smile. At the same time, the both of us took our bubble helmets, raising them up over our heads and clicking them into place onto our LAMA gear. Cool air immediately began flowing in from our air tanks, letting us breathe once we got under the water. 

“Let’s get diving!” Kai cheered. With that, the two of us wasted no time and jumped into the clear ocean waters, sinking down into the world below, a land of firsts for me and a return to a kingdom of coral for Kai. He was a prince in this realm, while I was a lowly peasant, but he took mercy on me, and let me into his domain gladly. 

When I set my eyes on that domain, I became completely and utterly speechless. The prince and his kingdom had sucked the words right out of my mouth and sent them drifting into the current. 

As we sank down into the water, we gazed out over a stunning vista of vibrant coral and a myriad of fauna swimming about the reef. All around us, the reef showed off its vivid colors and its wide array of diversity among both the corals and the fish that inhabited them. Every type of tropical reef fish imaginable was present in some shape or form below our flippers. As we sank down, I looked out and saw the reef extend out for several hundred feet in each direction, possible even for miles it was so big, all of it healthy and lively. The clear water was the perfect viewing glass for such a place. I was absolutely speechless looking out over it. The only words I could get out were:

“Woah….” I gawked. My eyes were wide and my jaw was gaping. I had never seen anything more beautiful in my life. 

“Yeah. It’s that amazing.” Kai told me, sensing how amazed I was by the whole thing, “Just wait until you see what it looks like up close. C’mon let’s go down.” the chubby diver took my hand and led me down closer to the reef. 

Swimming with the LAMA gear on was very different from what I thought it would be. Kai had said that I would be forced to swim upright with it on thanks to the tremendous amount of lift generated by the LAMA gear’s air filled helmet, but I never realized the extent of that until I had actually used it for the first time. Swimming upright was cumbersome to say the least, but that was a small price to pay to get to see such a place as this. I also still couldn’t get over the charm of the gear itself, and I definitely was thinking about using it again. But the reef was the real show stopper, and we swam around in it for as long as we could, making note of everything we saw. 

“OH MY GOD IT’S BEEN SO LONG!” Kai shouted, so loud that it caused my ears to ring from the radio feedback. 

“OUCH!” I cringed.

“Oh sorry, Gabe. I didn’t mean to shout.” the excited diver apologized, “But god it’s been so long since I’ve been here. It’s just like I remember it! Doesn’t look like anything’s changed over here!” 

“You haven’t been out here in awhile?” I asked him

“Nah I’ve been stuck diving with tourists at the usual spots. But this, this is my own secret place, and I haven’t had the chance to come out here. Until now.” the young diver smiled at me as thanks for agreeing to dive with him, causing me to grow cherry red from embarrassment and blush. I wish I could’ve scratched the back of my head, but the glass bubble helmet got in my way unfortunately. 

“Heh, it’s nothing… ” 

“Aww look at the tiny seahorse….” Kai bent over, pointing at a seahorse that had swam up close to him. While I just thought it was cute, he was completely enamored by it, examining the fish seeing if it was pregnant or not, and all that other stuff I had no clue about. 

“Doesn’t look like it’s pregnant.” he deduced, “Bummer. Would’ve loved to come back here and see it give birth. Hey look at that!” The avid diver swam off, heading away from the seahorse and me, towards a school of smaller fish hanging out around a coral formation nearby. I hurried to catch up to him, but I wasn’t nearly as fast a swimmer as him. While he rocketed off to other parts of the reef, I slowly tried to make my way over to where he had been two seconds earlier. If he wasn’t ADHD before, he is now. It almost made me wonder how he could be so chubby with all that much energy he was spending swimming around. 

“OH this coral is so pretty!” he exclaimed, peeking at another coral formation separate from where the fish were. Before I could even glance at what the formation looked like, even what color it was, he was already gone to another site. 

“You did say you’ve been here before, right?” I joked. The kid was more excited about the dive than I was, and I was the newbie here. That didn’t seem right, but at the same time I was beginning to not care so much about that rule. Eventually, I decided to park myself somewhere in the reef, just float there, and watch as Kai gushed over the reef. The boy really was a rocket, going from here to there in a matter of a minute. It was incredible he could move so fast with such cumbersome gear. 

“I’m surprised you’re not gushing too!” Kai retorted, “This is your first time and you’re still stoic as ever! C’mon loosen up a little, Gabe!” 

“I… Well I… I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed….” I said, trying to save face. It was true that I wasn’t nearly as stoked as Kai was but that was mainly from sheer numbness. I could barely process what I was looking at, and Kai’s spastic swimming didn’t help. 

“C’mon I’m gonna get you excited!” Kai said, swimming over and grabbing my hand again and dragging me through the water, just like he did back on land in the shop. He swam so fast he literally dragged me around the reef as I couldn’t swim fast enough to keep up with him. Even though my legs were significantly more muscular than his, he still outpaced me. 

“Stay right here, and close your eyes.” he said, letting go of my hand near a large coral formation. The tower of coral was nearly three times my height, and it was wide as a mountain. In fact, it was a mountain. 

“Alright. What are you planning, Kai?” I asked him. 

“Just close your eyes and wait until I call you.” he ordered. I obeyed and shut my eyes, and let my thoughts run rampant. Was he looking for something to show me? Preparing a little home inside the mountain of coral? Or was it something else? I honestly didn’t know. The image of him fluttering around the reef filled my mind, and I chuckled at the thought of it. Kai looked… what’s the word I’m looking for? 

My face turned cherry red again. What was the word I wanted to say? I couldn’t seem to buck up the courage to say it. All at once, my body shook in anxiety and I felt like I was drowning in a sea of pressure as the one specific word escaped me. Actually, I think I knew what the word was, but something prevented me from saying it or even thinking about it. I couldn’t dare say it, but why? What was stopping me from saying this word? The pressure continued to build, and I reserved myself to my mind, hoping to push the thought out of my head, but it was too difficult. The word persisted, filling every corner of my mind. Four letters. One syllable. All of society telling me that I shouldn’t dare say it. 

“Gabe, look up here! Hey Gabe! Are you listening?!” Kai called out to me, snapping me out of my funk. I looked up and saw him at the top of the coral formation, on his knees, looking down at me from his perch. Rays of light poured down from above, refracting in the water and reimagining the chubby diver as almost divine. He captured all my attention perched on that coral rock, like an angel in the waves. 

“Come up here, ya Slowpoke!” he ordered me. 

“Uh… right!” I kicked off, swimming up to the top of the coral formation, joining him there. The coral was large enough at the top to comfortably fit the both of us. I knelt down with him, my suit and flippers touching the hard coral, as I looked out over the vista. 

The view from the top of the coral was even more spectacular than from when we descended down from the boat. It was low enough to get a close look but high enough to get a bird’s eye. The same light from above illuminated the landscape and made the whole place feel like a heaven on earth. The numerous species of fish milling about the reef, just as they did when we came, but something was different from this vantage point. It was more like we were a part of them rather than foreigners. It was absolutely beautiful, and we were all alone there. Our air bubbles were the only indication that we were trespassing on this kingdom. I turned to face Kai, the widest smile on my face, unable to contain myself. 

“This is amazing!” I yelled, “I don’t think I ever wanna leave here, Kai!”

“Haha! I’m glad you think so!” he grinned, “I’m glad you came, Gabe!” The two of us sat there, smiling like dorks, watching over our kingdom from our shared throne, soaking in its splendor. 

But I couldn’t take my eyes off of Kai. In that moment of pure beauty and bliss in the reef, my eyes were perpetually glued to my chubby partner. His face, his shaved hair, his wetsuit, his chubby body, his sun kissed skin, his flippers, his LAMA gear. Everything about him interested me more than the reef ever could. His hyper attitude when we first arrived had enthralled me. Captivated me from the very beginning at his shop. But could I finally say the word? Could I finally buck up the courage to say it? At that moment, it finally came to me. The word to say about Kai, probably the best person I had met since moving to Hawaii. It emerged in my thoughts, and without hesitation, I believed them.

_He’s really cute in that LAMA gear._

===/===/===

We emerged from the water not long after, climbing back onto the boat and taking our glass bubble helmets off. The fresh Hawaiian air filled our lungs once again, as we sat down on the back of the boat, our flippers still in the water and our gear still on minus the helmet, soaked to the bone and taking in the bright, Polynesian sun as we rested from the long swim.

“Well that was fun….” I gasped, very tired from all the swimming. It was honestly one of the most exhausting things I had done in a while, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had lost a few pounds from all the kicking and flapping in the water, not to mention all that weight from the LAMA gear had put a serious crick in my back. 

“Yeah….” Kai agreed, gasping as well. He wasn’t nearly as tired as I was despite being in worse physical shape. He was used to the LAMA gear’s limitations and had learned to adapt. His body seemed to glow in the sunlight, and I couldn’t help but blush looking at the boy. 

“We should do this again sometime, Kai.” I suggested.

“Yeah!” Kai answered, his face beaming with happiness, “That was the most fun I’ve had in awhile! We’ll use a different gear next time, but we’ll definitely use LAMA gear again sometime.”

“Definitely!”

“Thanks so much for coming out to dive with me, Gabe!” 

“Thanks for asking. I didn’t think I’d ever go diving if you hadn’t offered.” 

“Aww… thanks….” 

“Also….” I said, my face turning bright red again and my speech breaking up, “There’s… there’s something else….”  
“Yeah? What is it, Gabe?” 

“I was… when we were down there… and we were on the coral… I thought you looked… you were… what I’m trying to say is…you....” 

“Well c’mon spit it out! Catfish got your tongue?”

“Wha-? Have you ever even seen a catfish before?!” 

“Nope. Now get on with it!” 

“Whatever. What I was trying to say is… is… I thought you… you were really….”

“Yeah? I was…?”

“I thought you looked really… uh… really cute in that gear.” 

“I looked… cute?” 

“Y-Yeah. You look really cute in that gear. There I said it! I think you look cute, Kai!”

My face was as red as blood. That four letter word had been the single hardest word for me to say in the world, and I’d finally admitted it to him. Kai Ka’aukai, the Hawaiian diver who had managed to make me admit a boy was cute. I didn’t think I’d ever say that before. My mind immediately began racing as I began rethinking my whole life, as well as my relationship with Kai. I couldn’t bring myself to think of what my parents would think, but I didn’t really care right then and there. All I cared about was Kai, and what he thought of that. 

“Well anyways. I think…. I think I… well… do you think we could… could b-” Before I could finish, I was interrupted by Kai’s advances. The diver leaned over, sticking his head out and kissing me square on the lips. If my face wasn’t already red as ever, it certainly was now. I could just imagine steam was coming out from my ears at that moment. The fact that he broke the rules about a kiss like this was what irked me, but did I really care enough? My first kiss, and with a boy instead of a girl. It was official. I was smitten and gayer than George Takei. My eyes were wide with shock while his were closed with lust. 

“I love you too, Gabe.” he said, unabashedly. 

“Wha- YOU SHOULD’VE WAITED TO KISS ME, KAI!” I yelled, angered that he didn’t wait for me to ask first or confess to him first. 

“Well you were taking too long.” he reprimanded. 

“I… ugh... I can’t win, can I?” 

“Nope. Now shut up and kiss me back, boyfriend.” I smiled at his remark. Boyfriends. I liked that. I couldn’t really argue, leaning in to kiss him back, this time closing my eyes and going full force into the kiss and he returned the favor. We held each other, our hand wrapping around our bodies and behind our air tanks, embracing each other in a solidifying kiss. Us two divers, sitting in the middle of the ocean, full on in love. All we needed was a rainbow pride flag and we were set… maybe some matching wetsuits as well but that could come later. 

“I love you, Kai.” I said, getting some air before diving back into the kiss.

The waves lapped and the sun continued its long trip in the sky. Apollo was sure to tell his sister Artemis when they switched shifts about our new love, and I’m sure Aphrodite was having the time of her life, watching us seal the deal. But let the gods bicker and the schoolkids whisper, I didn’t care about them. They didn’t matter anyways. If I could at least dive with my boyfriend in peace, then that’s all that really mattered. 


	2. Proper Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe is mad at Kai for jumping the gun and rushing his scuba certification without going through the proper channels. He pesters his new boyfriend all week long to get him to do it right. Annoyed, Kai agrees, and imparts on him a crash course of proper scuba diving etiquette and training.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a conversation in this story that is in Spanish. I have attached a translation here for reader's convenience.
> 
> Spanish phone call translation:  
> G: Hi dad, it's me, Gabriel.  
> M: Oh! It was about time you reported, soldier! Hi son, have you finished your diving practice?  
> G: Yes. Do not worry, everything went well. Kai has a lot of experience and is teaching me everything he knows.  
> M: Well well. It seems you are in good hands. Although maybe a little fast, right? Only one week and already of practices?  
> G: Ah, well ... I'm enjoying it a lot and that helps me to make an effort to learn fast ...  
> M: That's clear. Although in any case you are always very applied. Surely in a short time you can already dive in the sea. It will be much more fun than doing it in a pool, right?  
> G: Hey, this ... Yes, I can not wait to dive in the middle of the sea ... the pool is not that funny ...  
> M: But be careful when that happens. I have met one of the instructors of the diving school in the base and even someone with so much experience goes with all the care of the world.  
> G: Oh, that's right, there's a diving academy on this base ... Have you visited it yet?  
> M: Only in passing, although I could see some students practicing in the pool. And I can tell you one thing: do not complain about the weight of your team, what those students used should weigh about five times more or something like that. I'm even surprised that they came to walk by themselves to the pool ...  
> G: Really? God, it sounds very hard ...  
> M: It is. Being a Navy diver has nothing to do with what you and your friend do. It is possibly the hardest and most dangerous branch of the Navy, even pilots like me do not run as many risks as divers on their dives.  
> *pause*  
> M: Well, son, if you've finished your practices, do you want me to pick you up?  
> G: Oh! No no! You don't need to! I'm alright! Further...  
> *switch to English*  
> G: I understand it I understand it!  
> M: Goodbye, soldier!  
> G: Goodbye.
> 
> For AlCharlie

I still haven’t gotten used to the tropical heat in Hawaii. 

It’s been about a week since my life changed forever. That fateful day on my morning jog where I met the best friend I could’ve ever asked for, and he brought me into his world of diving and swimming. My only regret was that I hadn’t been more willing. Ever since I put on that custom made wetsuit and my personal LAMA gear, and jumped into the tropical waters, I’d been smitten with scuba diving, as well as with the boy who pulled me in. I had grown to like everything about him. His love of diving, his knowledge on the subject, his chubby frame, his cute face and incredibly short and nearly shaven head. 

“C’mon Gabe! Do we really have to do this?!” 

Well, most of him, anyways.

“Yes!” I yelled back, talking over the sound of the waves our boat cut through, “I can’t stand it any longer! We have to do this properly, Kai!” 

We skipped over the waves of the Pacific, not far off the coast of O’ahu, ready for another dive together. I sat on the bow, already wearing my blue and black wetsuit, eager to get started. Meanwhile, Kai, also in his orange and black wetsuit, sailed us out to the dive spot, though not without apprehension. Y’see, on that first dive, I was totally unlicensed save for a token license that he gave me at the beginning just to get things started. I wasn’t read into the rules and details of scuba diving, and I was completely unprepared for the task at hand. Nevertheless, I did the dive, but not without this aching pit in my stomach afterwards. I loathed that feeling. Having gone on a dive without knowing everything that I needed to know and going through the proper procedure for said dive had ate away at me all week long. I couldn’t accept that I hadn’t gone through the training necessary for that task beforehand, as well as Kai’s willingness to throw the book away just for my sake. It felt wrong, breaking the rules so brazenly, and I demanded that he teach me properly. 

All.

Week. 

Long.

Hey, if my own boyfriend is going to be so blatant in his disregard for rules, I’m going to annoy him to hell and back to correct his mistakes. I’m allowed to do that… right?

“Ugh, fine!” he said, finally giving in to my begging and complaining, “I’ll do it! But only because I hate seeing you upset, Gabe! You really don’t need this.” So we set sail, with our wetsuits on and our training scuba gear packed up, with my boyfriend at the helm bitter about the result, and myself eager to learn the proper way.

Though I doubt Kai was angry about the dive in any way given that it was still scuba diving. Plus, it was another dive with me, something we were obviously both happy about. 

“Alright, here we are!” Kai slowed the boat to a stop, turning it off and getting up to lower the anchor. His chunky body moving quickly to get things ready for the dive. He dropped the anchor into the sea, grabbed his gear, and prepared to start the lecture, standing in the center of the boat, waiting for me to join him. Not wanting to keep him waiting, I rose from my seat, grabbed my own gear, not putting it on just yet, and stood in front of him, eager to hear his lecture. 

“So then,” he began, “For this dive, I will, per your request, impart on you a scuba diving crash course.” 

“Thank you, Kai.” I thanked him, very grateful for his upcoming lesson knowing that he would rather do something more fun. 

“You’re welcome, Gabe!” he replied, smiling, “Anyways, I’ll teach you as much as I can for this dive, going over the assembly and donning of your gear, how to use your regulator, and how to communicate underwater using hand signals. After teaching you these things, we’ll put your knowledge to the test in the dive. Normally, we would dive in a pool so that you could demonstrate your skills in a controlled environment, but due to short notice, we will have to settle with an open water dive for today. I apologize for the inconvenience.” 

Liar. I’ll be surprised if he actually went looking for pool times for this lesson. But I’ll let it slide I guess. I’m still getting the proper training, regardless of whether or not the dive is in a pool or in the ocean. I guess that’s my compromise for him. 

“We’ll start with putting on your gear, starting with the air tank.” The senior diver reached down and picked up his air tank, slowly so that I could see how. He unbuckled the chest strap, and slowly fitted the silver air tank over his shoulders, adjusting it so it rested comfortably on his back. Finally, he buckled the chest strap and adjusted his shoulder straps so that it was snug on him. Hoses and gauges hung from the tank, waiting to be used and explained, with a second hose strapped to his left shoulder strap. Like a mime, I mimicked him as well as I could, putting on my own air tank in the same manner that Kai did. 

“Make sure it’s on tight and snug so that it doesn’t fall off during the dive.” he told me, “Before I tell you about these gauges, we’ll put on the rest of the gear.” he reached down and picked up his orange flippers, putting them on his feet and tightening the strap so that they were secure on his feet. Then, he took his orange gloves and put them on, along with the weight belt around his body. Finally, he grabbed his scuba mask, strapping it to his face over his eyes and nose, and tightening it to his face so that it formed a watertight seal against his face. The frame of the mask and the part over the nose was orange to complement the rest of his gear, while mine was blue. Again, I mimicked him and put my own flippers, gloves, weight belt and mask on. Standing there, wearing all this gear, I was getting anxious waiting to hear about the gauges and other features, as I wanted to get in the water more than anything with the gear on. But I contained himself, waiting to hear the rest of the lecture. 

“Now then, all this stuff coming out of your air tank are essential to the dive.” Kai explained, taking one of the hoses in his hand. At the end of the hose was the regulator, which he held in his hand for me to see, “This is the regulator. It’s what makes the dive possible. The air in these tanks is pressurized, which if you tried to breathe would kill you in seconds.” I gulped, “So, in order to make it safer, when the air goes through the regulator, it depressurizes it to ambient pressure and allows you to breathe the air safely.” 

“That’s helpful.” I commented.

“Yes it is.” Kai agreed, “Next up, all these other hoses.” He took one of the other hoses that hung over his shoulder. This one had two gauges on it. “These are your pressure gauges, and they tell you the air pressure inside the tanks. Think of them as… fuel gauges on a car. They essentially tell you how much air is left in the tanks. The lower the air pressure number, the less air you have.” 

“I see.”

“Finally, there’s the secondary air hose.” he let go of the gauges and pointed to the hose strapped to his left shoulder, “If there’s an issue with your regulator and it’s no longer putting out air, or your partner or someone in the vicinity is in need of an air supply, this is the hose that you use. It’s a backup in case of an emergency, and only in an emergency. You shouldn’t use the secondary air hose in any other context! Are we clear?” 

“Yes, sir!” I shouted, like a soldier taking orders from his commanding officer. My Navy background came out in instances like this, and I wasn’t ashamed to show it. I even straightened my back, put my feet together, and gave him a proper military salute. However, every time, Kai couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. 

“Hehe… at ease, diver. Finally, let’s go over the hand signals.” 

For the next half an hour, Kai showed me all the different hand signals that he had learned when becoming certified. Since this dive would have us using standard regulators, there was no way for us to communicate with each other verbally, so we would have to rely on these signals instead. Some of the signals seemed frivolous at first, like making an okay sign with your hands (creating a loop with your index finger and thumb with the rest of your fingers up) to signal to the other diver… well, that you’re okay or that you agree with whatever they signaled. Also pointing up or down or left or right to signal which way you’re going, pretty self explanatory, as was putting your palm out to tell the other diver to stay put. However, there were a few important ones, like low on air and out of air, signaled by a fist on the chest and a flat hand going back and forth across the neck, respectively. While I didn’t think we’d be under long enough for either of those to happen, I’m at least grateful that I know what they are, as I am to have learned all of them.

“Did ya get all that?” Kai said, mimicking a certain knowledgeable but annoying owl, “Do you want to hear what I said again?” 

“Ha! No thanks, Kaepora Gaebora!” I laughed. I’m a hardcore Zelda fan, so that got a kick out of me. 

“Yes! Haha!! You got my reference!” he cheered. If it wasn’t for us being on a boat and him wearing a heavy tank on his back, he’d be jumping up and down. Though, I suspect if we were on dry land with our gear on, he’d jump anyways. But he didn’t want to rock the boat too much I suppose. 

“Hehe… anything else, Kai?” 

“Hmm… nope. I think that’s everything.” 

“Alright then. LET’S DIVE!” I waddled over to the edge of the boat, trying not to trip over my flippers, eager to get into the water. 

“Hey! That’s my line! HEY! WAIT FOR ME, GABE!!!” Kai waddled after me, irked that I stole his thunder (I’m not sorry), standing next to me with only the outboard motor between us. The blades of our flippers hung over the edge of the boat, as we looked out over the crystal clear waters. O’ahu lay on the horizon, and a fantastic dive waited for us below the waves. 

“Nervous, Gabe?” Kai asked.

“You kidding? I’m excited!” I said, holding my regulator up. The choice of gear wasn’t my favorite, but I still loved having the opportunity to try out a new gear, so I wasn’t about to complain. 

“Alright!” Kai held his own up, “Hold your regulator in your mouth when you jump so it stays in. You don’t wanna have it fall out on impact after all.” He took the regulator and put it in his mouth, biting down on the rubber mouthpiece to hold it in place in his mouth. 

“Right!” I took my own regulator and did the same, sticking it in my mouth and biting down. I could feel cool air blowing out of it and into my lungs, the feeling of breathing scuba tank air once again was heavenly. I wish I could say something to show my joy, but with that mouthpiece in, my speech was almost completely inhibited. All my speech was mumbled and muffled, but that was okay for now. We’ll see how it works out underwater, though. 

Ready to go, the two of us nodded to each other, and jumped into the water together, splashing down into the Hawaiian waters simultaneously. Air bubbles rose up from the splash zone around us and from the exhaust on the regulators, obstructing our vision and rushing past our masks at first. However, the moment they were gone, our vision was clear and the beautiful coral reef was revealed in all of its beauty. While it was a different reef from my first, it was still beautiful nonetheless. Countless fish swam around the coral formations, going about their day in relative bliss. We could only wish that we were fish like them, and I wanted to go and swim with them really bad. 

But Kai wouldn’t let me. As I started to kick off to go and see the reef, he grabbed my hand and pulled me back. He swam up in front of me and signalled for me to stop, holding out his palm in front of me. Apparently, my lesson wasn’t over just yet. He signaled for me to follow him, which I did. He stayed in front for the majority of the dive, leading me through the reef, showing me how to properly signal your actions and be respectful to the environment that we were intruding on. He really did treat me like a student throughout the dive, using the signals that he taught me, which he hadn’t even bothered with in the first dive. Every time I forgot to signal my actions, he would knock me on the head with his fist, and have me do it again. 

In a way, the dive was a complete 180 from our first dive, and I… didn’t really like it that much. 

But… I couldn’t deny that it felt good to be in the water again. Feeling that warm water brush past my skin and through my hair… ooooh… it was the best feeling in the world! Looking up and seeing the sunlight beam down, refracted by the churning ceiling and sparkling down to the world below. Beautiful wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the underwater world. And with Kai there, helping me along, and teaching me even more, I was as happy as a clam. 

At one point during the dive, Kai turned to me and signaled for us to share air. He took out his regulator, and offered it to me. Naturally, I was a bit hesitant, but I couldn’t disobey a direct order from my superior officer, now could I? I took my own regulator out and handed it to him, and he handed his to me. We put each other’s regulators into our mouths, breathing the air out of the other’s tanks for a few minutes. Strangely, it was oddly satisfying breathing Kai’s air, and I grew a bit of a smile on my face with his regulator in his mouth. We got in really close, our eyes locked on each other, and our masks touching. Air bubbles streamed out of our exhausts on our regulators, squeezing past us two stupid divers, giggling as we used the other’s air. If I could just freeze that moment in time, live it for the rest of my life, floating there in the warm Hawaiian waters, with Kai’s regulator in and him with mine, huddled close, giggling….

I would. Without question. 

After a few minutes, we gave our regulators back, and continued on. Kai lead me further into the reef, relaxing his lecture just a bit, and even playing around with me a little bit. We did a little bit of hide and seek, or at least tried to. It was hard to do when you can’t really communicate with your voice (seriously that is the biggest drawback of this gear). He lead me towards a school of fish, which scattered as we got close to them, which was pretty disheartening. But, the Hawaiian boy merely took out some fish food that he’d been hiding in a pouch on his leg during the dive, and poured some into his hands. Immediately, the school came back, smelling the food and feasting from his hand, their bites small and leaving crumbs of food floating throughout the ocean. My eyes widened with amazement as I watched the fish eat from his hand. Apparently, Kai took notice and told me to put my hands out, which I did, and he promptly poured the food into my hands now. Suddenly  _ I  _ was the center of attention now, and all the fish swarmed to me, feasting from my own hands instead. I couldn’t help but laugh as they all switched from Kai to me in a blink of an eye. These fish had no allegiances to either of us, merely interested in the food, and whoever had the better food, or at least more of it, that’s where they would go, and hey, I’m cool with that. 

Yet another moment I’d freeze in time and relive over and over in a heartbeat. Like a great song on the radio, it only comes around once, until you beg for it to play again. 

===/===/===

“Here! Lemme help you with that, Gabe!” 

An hour or so after we jumped into the water, we stepped back onto dry land, our bodies still wet with seawater, and our gear gaining about fifty more pounds as we went from sea to land. Our gear was neatly stowed in our personal bags, which we carried with us off the boat and onto the dock. Kai went first, stepping off the vessel like it was second nature, with his incredibly heavy duffel bag in hand, and he waited for me on the dock. However, I was having some trouble, much like I did last time. 

I know right? A wrestler having trouble with heavy gear. Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? But that wrestler was also on a shifting boat and trying to jump a gap with sixty pounds of scuba gear in his arms. You go try that and tell me how that works out. Checkmate. 

“Uh… y-yeah, thanks!” I said, handing the gear to him. With the gear out of my hands, I hopped off the boat and onto the floating dock below. 

The marina was rather large, tucked away near the mouth of Pearl Harbor, with plenty of small sailboats and large yachts alike. Our small little speedboat had snuck in as a yacht was leaving, with our pier the closest one to the exit, making it easy for us to get out and go for a dive, though the trip to and from the pier was still a slog, what with our heavy gear and all. Plus, we kept getting all kinds of looks from other sailors in the marina, what with us only wearing our wetsuits all the way there. Though, I couldn’t care less what they thought of us, just that we were going for a dive. In any event, Kai handed me back my gear and proceeded to tie the boat to the pier. With the boat secure and gear in hand, we headed back to the shore, chatting along the way. 

“So how’d you like the dive, Gabe?” Kai asked. 

“It was great! I loved every minute of it!” I told him, with a smile, “Just one thing. I hate that gear.” 

“Same here. You can’t speak, it’s not unique, and it just makes everything quieter.” the chubby diver complained, “Plus, it’s a little uncomfortable to hold in your mouth like that.” 

“Tell me about it.” I said, rubbing my jaw, “My jaw kinda hurts after all that. But anyways, thanks for the lesson, though did you have to be so harsh when I messed up?” 

“Hey, you wanted a full lesson, and you got one. Can’t be upset when I act like a teacher with you.” 

“That’s true….” 

“Also, you’re a Navy brat, right? Aren’t you used to harsher punishments anyways?”

“Y-yeah… you have a point.” I started to blush, realizing that I didn’t really mind it at all that Kai was pretty harsh. It was a familiar sensation, being instructed like that.

“Anyways, wanna spend the night at my place tonight?” Kai asked.

I was a bit taken aback by that offer. It came out of nowhere. “Wh-wha-HUH?! Where’d that come from?!” 

“Dunno. Parents are out of town tonight, so I’ve got the place all to myself. I’d be pretty lonely just by myself, so why not? So how about it?” Once again, the brazenness for which he lived his life was something to behold. I should’ve been used to it by now, but even now, every single time he did something or suggested something out of the blue, without forethought or considering the consequences or what have you, I still felt a little queasy when he did it. But, it was a good kind of queasy. I was starting to like it. It was a quirk of Kai Ka’aukai, and I was alright with it. Call me Doug DeMuro if you want, but I guess I like the quirks, as long as they weren’t dangerous. 

“I-I’d love to, Kai!” I replied, smiling, “Let’s do it!” 

“Yay!!!” Kai jumped up and down, ecstatic and already planning the night out in his head, “Let’s go straight home, Gabe!” 

“Hold on, I should probably tell my dad. Gimme a second here.” I stopped him, grabbing my phone from my bag’s front pocket, where I had put it in case of an emergency. It was an iPhone 6S I got a few years ago as a birthday present. Great phone (I will not switch to the iPhone 7 or 8 or whatever they’re at now. I’m not about to lose that headphone jack). I had a picture of Kai and me from our first dive together as the background. Us in our LAMA gear, just after getting back from the dive. We still had our bubble helmets on. Best. Picture. Ever.

”Lemme call him and tell him real quick.” I said, opening the phone and heading into my recent calls. My dad was near the top of the list, only second to Kai who had called me this morning to confirm the dive was today. I select his name, and the phone starts ringing. Three times it rings before he picks up. 

“Good afternoon, this is Miguel Romero.” he introduces himself when he picks up the phone, his standard call script, “Can I help you?” 

“Hola papá, soy yo, Gabriel.” I answer, in Spanish, much to Kai’s shock. Yes, I’m bilingual in Spanish and English. I don’t really get why people are surprised by that to be honest.

“¡Ah! ¡Ya iba siendo hora de que reportaras, soldado!” he chuckles, calling me a soldier before asking how my dive was, “Hola hijo, ¿has terminado tu práctica de buceo?”

"Sí. No te preocupes, todo ha ido bien. Kai tiene mucha experiencia y me está enseñando todo lo que sabe."  
"Bien, bien. Parece que estás en buenas manos. Aunque quizás un poco rápido, ¿no? ¿Sólo una semana y ya de prácticas?"  
"Ah, bueno… Me está gustando mucho y eso ayuda a que me esfuerce en aprender rápido..."  
"Eso está claro. Aunque de todas formas siempre eres muy aplicado. Seguro que en poco tiempo ya puedes bucear en el mar. Será mucho más divertido que hacerlo en una piscina, ¿verdad?" 

"Eh, esto... Sí, no puedo esperar a bucear en pleno mar... la piscina no es que tenga mucha gracia..."  
"Pero ve con cuidado cuando eso ocurra. He conocido a uno de los instructores de la escuela de buceo en la base y hasta alguien con tanta experiencia va con todo el cuidado del mundo."   
"Oh, es cierto, hay una academia de buceo en esta base... ¿La has visitado ya?"  
"Sólo de pasada, aunque pude ver a unos alumnos practicando en la piscina. Y te puedo decir una cosa: no te quejes del peso de tu equipo, lo que empleaban esos alumnos debe pesar como cinco veces más o algo así. Hasta me sorprende un poco que llegaran a caminar por sí mismos hasta la piscina..."  
"¿De veras? Vaya, suena muy duro..."  
"Lo es. Ser un buzo de la Marina no tiene nada que ver con lo que hacéis tu amigo y tú. Es posiblemente la rama de la Marina más dura y peligrosa de todas, hasta los pilotos como yo no corremos tantos riesgos como los buzos en sus inmersiones."

That was an interesting. I had never thought that the divers had to put themselves into more danger than the pilots do. Y’know you think of Navy pilots, jumping into their planes and going to annihilate the enemy with their fighter jets and all, and you would just assume that they’re in more danger with the potential to be shot down and all. It was a possibility that haunted me and my family every time my father was deployed. But the divers? They have to strap on all that gear, dive several meters below the water, and sometimes infiltrate enemy bases with that. They can be the front lines sometimes, maybe even coming in before the front line. Plus, diving in the navy would continue my hobby… hmm….  
"Bueno hijo, si ya has acabado tus prácticas, ¿quieres que vaya a recogerte?"  
"¡Ah! ¡No, no! ¡No hace falta! ¡Seguro! Además..." I switched to English for the rest of the conversation, since I had Kai looking at me with a funny look on my face the whole time I was talking to my dad. He couldn’t understand a word we were saying, and that clearly bothered him. “Kai asked if I wanted to stay at his place for the night.” 

“O-oh?” he said, a bit caught off guard by both the question and the change in language, “Are you and him friends now?”

“Y-yeah. We’ve been friends for a while now. That’s why he’s teaching me how to scuba dive.” 

“Oh Gabriel! I’m so happy for you! You made a friend so quickly! I know you were devastated that we moved so far away from all your old friends, I was worried you wouldn’t make any new friends here. I am so glad you’ve found someone to be friends with!” 

“Yeah, I am too. He’s a great friend.” I said, blushing, “A-anyways, can I stay at his place tonight?” 

“Hmm… I don’t see why not, as long as his parents are okay with it.” 

“Y-yeah they’re okay with it.” I lied, probably the first time I did so in a while. I didn’t know whether or not they were okay with me staying over, but with them being out of town, it didn’t really matter what they thought, right? 

“Well, alright then.” he answered, “Just be home tomorrow at a reasonable time. You still have that homework you need to do for Monday, and wrestling practice and studying for the naval entrance exam and….” 

“¡Lo entiendo lo entiendo! I’ll be home on time, papá.” 

“Bueno. Well, have fun, Gabriel! I’m so proud of you!” I could nearly hear him crying on the other side of the line he was so full of joy, “¡Adiós, soldado!” 

“Adiós.” I say goodbye, killing the call and putting my phone away, looking right into a shocked and surprised Kai staring me dead in the eyes, mouth agape and speechless.

“YOU CAN SPEAK SPANISH?!” he screamed, “AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?!” 

“Y-yeah I can speak it.” I stuttered, “Why wouldn’t I be able to?” 

“I DON’T KNOW BUT IT’S COOL! When did you learn how to?” 

“I’ve been bilingual ever since I was little. My parents taught me Spanish at the same time as English. They’ve always encouraged me to speak Spanish around them. We almost exclusively speak it in the house.” 

“Really? That’s awesome!” 

“Yeah, I’m pretty grateful for it. Opens up a whole new world of places I can go and visit. Mexico. Argentina. Bolivia. The Dominican Republic. Spain! Oh I wanna go to Spain so bad!” 

“Hehe… me too. Lots of cool diving spots in the Mediterranean.” 

“Always thinking about diving, aren’t you?” 

“You know me too well. Anyways, it’s getting late, we should get home.” 

“Right.” With my dad’s blessing and our heavy gear on our shoulders, we continued on through the maze of piers and docks that made up the marina, and headed back towards the island and Kai’s house. The whole way I was anxious. I couldn’t believe I was already going to spend the night at Kai’s house. Only a week after meeting him! It was incredible! I couldn’t wait to have fun with him all night. To hell with my homework and other duties and stuff. I’m spending the night with my boyfriend and doing all kinds of stuff. 

Also, knowing Kai and his parents they might be keeping some pieces of diving gear at their home, maybe ones I haven’t seen yet. If that’s so I hope he shows them to me. Hell, maybe give them a dry test, why not?

===/Dusk, Later That Day/===

“Welcome… to Casa del Ka’aukai!” 

Kai’s house sat not far from the dive shop. In fact, it was in the dive shop, tucked away on the second floor of the building that housed the Ka’aukai Surf and Dive Shop. Still wearing our wetsuits, we walked through the cluttered mess that was the shop, towards the northwest corner of the building, walking up a staircase that I hadn’t noticed the first time I was there (I’ll wager from the shock). On the wall at the base of the staircase was a sign that read “No Admittance”, and a chain to keep people from coming up unwanted. Each step creaked as we ascended, and at the top of the staircase was Kai’s house in all its glory. He couldn’t contain himself as he introduced me to his home, proclaiming my welcome for all to hear. 

“You literally only did that because you learned I could speak Spanish.” I said, stone cold. 

“Hehe… guilty.” he chuckled, “How’d I do, by the way?” 

“Ten outta ten.” I rated his Spanish, giving him two thumbs up. 

“Yes! Achievement unlocked!” the diver smiled, pumping his fists, “Oh lemme show you around.” 

For the next few minutes he lead me through the house, which was surprisingly cramped. I would’ve expected more with his family being the owners of their own dive shop. The kitchen, dining room, and living room all took up the space on the landing, with the kitchen directly in front of us as we stepped off the stairs, the dining room to the right of that, and the living room the farthest away from us along the far wall. The space was quaint, filled with pictures of the Ka’aukai family and their many adventures. With all three members being divers, they got to go on a lot of them. If I described each and every picture I saw, I would never finish. There’s just too many of them.

“Down that way is the bedrooms.” Kai said, pointing down the hall along the far wall from the staircase, “Mine’s at the very end, with a great view to boot!” 

“Nice!” I look around the space, curious about how we should fill the rest of the day. The sun was setting fast, and before we knew it we’d both be yawning, “So… what should we do first?” 

“Well, first off, why don’t I show you my room?” Kai grinned. 

“O-oh alright then.” I blushed, as he grabbed me by the hand and lead me down the hall towards his bedroom, passing two doors on the left, which I could only assume were his parents’ bedroom and a bathroom. At the end of the hall was one final door, with a worn wooden K on the panel, a little crooked from years of opening and closing the door. 

“You might wanna brace yourself.” Kai said as he opened the door. I didn’t really know what he meant by that, but I’d find out soon enough. 

Inside was a tsunami of stimuli, and everything was quintessential Kai. His room was as disorganized as his brain, with nearly everything scattered about the large room. A large queen size bed extended out from its head on the inside wall and into the middle of the room, creating a U shape in the floor. A wall of windows opposed it, looking out over the island outside. On all the other walls were, well, a bunch of things. Maps had been nailed into his walls, and covered nearly every available surface on them. To the right of the door was a large map of Hawaii, with several pins in it to denote diving locations (obviously). In fact, all of the maps denoted diving locations that Kai presumably wanted to go to. There was a map of the United States, of the Pacific, of the Mediterranean, of North America, of Japan, and of Southeast Asia and Oceania. He had really covered his bases with the maps. 

“Wow….” I gawked, “Do you wanna go diving at all those places?” 

“Yep! That’s my goal! To dive in as many places as I can.” 

“There’s probably a hundred pins on each map!” I shrieked. I walked through the room, looking at all the pins in all the maps, but also at all the other random things he had. On the far wall from the door was his desk, which of course was cluttered with all kinds of things, most notably his homework and a stack of textbooks. I could see red marks on all the pages, which concerned me. But I didn’t really have time to critique his academic performance, and I didn’t really want to right now anyways. He also had stacked a whole bunch of dive theory books and gear manuals, reading up on as many different types of scuba gear as he could. Clearly, reading up on diving gear was more important than doing his homework or reading his textbooks. In the wardrobe by the bed, I could see wetsuits overflowing from the messy drawers. He apparently didn’t fold anything in there, or if he did, didn’t refold them when he got stuff out. Once again, typical Kai. But all the wetsuits posed an interesting question: does he like to wear more than just his orange one? I would assume yes. 

What caught my eye the most, was a chest hiding in the corner of the room, right under the wall of windows. It looked old, like it was from some pirate movie, and I could only assume it contained some amazing treasure. On the top of it there was a picture in black and white of a man that seemed to be Japanese wearing an old style diving scaphandre, like the one that Captain Cutler’s ghost donned in that Scooby-Doo episode. I wanted to open it. It just seemed too interesting to leave alone. 

“Hey, Kai?” I asked, “What’s in this-HEY!” Before I could finish, I was struck across the back with a pillow. I wasn’t expecting that at all, and I looked back and saw Kai standing on his bed, with a fire in his eyes, and pillows in his hands. 

“You snooze you lose!” he yelled, throwing me a pillow and running off towards the living room. With pillow in hand, I knew exactly what to do. 

“THIS! MEANS! WAR!!!!” I cried, running off after him, though unfortunately he caught me right after I got through the door, slamming me with a pillow in the face. I stumbled back as he ducked in and out of rooms, hiding from my wrath. I got my revenge shortly thereafter though, as I snuck up on him as he hid behind one of the sofas in the living room. His chubby body couldn’t hide for long. The war waged for at least an hour it seemed, and by the time we were done, we had three hits for me and a countless number for Kai. Home field advantage and surprisingly fast movement on the ground made him victorious in this battle. Though, I swore vengeance on him, and I would rise again and claim victory over his tyranny. 

…I really should stop watching so much war dramas. 

“Hey, do you wanna try out some gear?” Kai asked. 

Finally, the moment I was waiting for.

“YES! OH MY GOD YES!” I yelped, jumping for joy. I raced downstairs, Kai hot on my trail, and dove into the back room, looking through all the gear he had hidden back there. The LAMA gear, the full face masks, the respirators, and even some of the more heavy duty stuff. It was hard to decide what I wanted to try on first. A dry run of all these gears would’ve been the best thing in the world, but if I could only have one, that would be enough. 

“Okay okay! What one do you wanna use?” he asked. 

“Hmm… it’s so hard to choose! Could I use more than one tonight?” 

“Uh… I don’t think we’d have time to do that. Stick with just one for now and some other time you can have another one.” 

“Bummer…. Well how about I go for LAMA gear then?” 

“Really? I was thinking of doing the exact same thing!” 

“Haha!! We’re starting to think alike!” We each grabbed our LAMA gear from the back room, my blue and his orange, along with air tanks and flippers and gloves and weight belts and all the things that we would normally use for a dive. Racing back up the stairs, with gear in tow, we parked ourselves in the living room and quickly put the gear on. Now that I knew what I was doing, I was able to put the gear on much quicker than I had before, keeping pace with Kai in fact. We quickly found out though that using LAMA gear on dry land was much harder than it was in water. All that weight on top of us was hard to balance, but we managed. Cool air filled the dome, as we stood around the house, looking like aliens on a foreign planet. 

“Why don’t we watch a movie with these on?” I suggested, communicating via radio. 

“Oooooo perfect! I know just the one too!” He waddled over to the shelf in the corner, pulling out a seemingly random DVD from my vantage point and showing it to me, “JAWS!” 

“Oh damn! This is gonna be good.” I waddled over to the couch, plopping down on it, being careful not to damage something. With the air tank on my back, it was hard to get comfortable though.

“I recommend sitting on the floor with these on.” Kai told me, “You’ll never get comfortable with that air tank on your back.”

“Oh alright then.” I slouched off the couch, sitting on the floor with my legs crossed instead. Like he said, it was much more reasonable and accommodating to my back doing it this way. Kai put the movie in and turned on the TV, turning it to the correct HDMI channel. Immediately, the movie started up, going straight to the menu, with Kai pressing play. He waddled over and sat next to me, our helmets clinking as we watched Steven Spielberg’s classic shark thriller, with our LAMA gear on, looking like two total nerds in our gear. 

“Don’t fall asleep. You’ll run out of air if you do.” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” 

===/Later That Night/===

I suck at sleeping.

No matter what I try I always seem to have a hard time falling asleep. Though I’ve never been prescribed, I’m almost certain it’s some form of sleep apnea. The stars and planets almost have to align for me to fall asleep properly, and not to mention the bed cannot be lumpy or matted or any other thing that would make it uneven in any way. It had to be completely dark, the room clean, the door open, and a whole checklist of other things in order for me to fall asleep. 

Needless to say, that didn’t happen tonight. 

So I lay there, on Kai’s queen size bed, wearing nothing by my briefs, staring at the ceiling, as moonlight beamed in from outside. If I was at home and this happened, I would normally get up and go get a book and start reading until I got tired enough that I could maybe fall asleep, and then if that didn’t work, get another book, and then go do my homework, and then finally go take a NyQuil… and then get drunk off the side-effects after my body fought the sleeping effects. 

I tend to drink about 15 cups of coffee in the morning so that I stay awake during the day. 

Kai lays between me and the door, wearing a different wetsuit this time as his pajamas. He looks absolutely adorable in REM sleep, his chubby body compressed by the wetsuit he chose. It was nothing more than a thin black lycra suit with stirrups at the feet, just light enough to keep him comfortable and flexible. Though, even at night it was still so hot in Hawaii I wouldn’t have even thought about wearing that to bed. Then again, I did just wear a wetsuit all day today so maybe I don’t have a lot of room to criticize. Either way, looking at him sleeping sort of calmed me. I wanted to reach over and pet his shaved head so badly. I turned on my shoulder, putting one arm close to me, and reaching out with the other at him, wanting to touch him in his sleep. I don’t know if I would’ve woke him up, but I couldn’t help myself.

He’s just too cute not to touch.

“Ugh…. Gabe….”

I stop. He started talking. I panic for a second, retracting my hand, worried that I work him up. I turn around, faking sleep for a bit until I’m positive the coast is clear. When I turn around again, nothing has changed. He’s still lying there in the same position he did before, just as cute as ever. 

He talks in his sleep! That’s so adorable!!!

Oh great now I sound like a fangirl. 

I try again, reaching over, getting much closer this time, keeping my hand low to the bed, and almost getting to his face this time. I stretch my hand out, hoping to stroke his head, and that oh so short and soft hair that he had on it. I thought I had short hair, but then I met Kai and his shaved head. He said he does it that way so that putting on a hood is easier. Genius. 

But then, just before I get to his head, his hand comes out, and grabs mine! I can’t help but panic at this point, because I’m almost certain he’s awake right now, and any minute those blue eyes will come open and stare me right in the face. I fear I just woke the beast, and now I’ll be sent to Davy Jones’ locker without scuba gear. I mean I wanna go, but give me some gear please have mercy Kai. 

“Gabe….” he says, in his sleep still, “I… love you…. Let’s go… diving… together… forever….” 

I can’t help but smile. My icy heart had melted a long time ago when I met him, but this was just turning it into steam. Just like that my body completely relaxes. My muscles flatten, and my mind goes straight to heaven, as I envision the two of us diving some more, in a rotating set of gear, and without anyone else around. Schools of fish and mountains of coral surround us, as I look at the face of Kai, his face covered by a mask, and all I wish is that I could kiss him in that moment. 

“I love you too, Kai.” I whisper, “Let’s go diving together forever.” Still holding onto his hand, I close my eyes, finding it easier than ever to fall asleep, so long as I focus on the image in my head, and the face of my love. In my dreams, I dive with him, and in my life, I dive with him, and I couldn’t ask for more. This affection, I didn’t think I’d end up this way, but now that I am I can’t not think about it.

This deep love.


	3. Drysuits and Homework

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Friday afternoon and Kai gushes with the prospect of diving together his dearest boyfriend Gabe. But it’s Gabe himself who tries to curb his enthusiasm, reminding him that they have homework for Monday, one of the assignments being a report for biology class about the wildlife of the Hawaiian islands. Surprisingly, Kai doesn’t seem to be bummed or fazed by it, dismissing Gabe’s concerns about the report, that it’ll be a piece of cake if they focus on marine wildlife since he’s the son of a marine biologist, they can ask Kai’s mother for notes that they can use for the assignment. Kai also comes up with an idea that would end rounding up their report: They’ll take the pics to illustrate it themselves instead of just copy and paste them from internet. Gabe can’t deny it’s a good idea, even if it’s Kai looking for an excuse to go for a dive together that weekend (although Kai points out that it’s not like they need one anyways). Gabe agrees but asks Kai to take it seriously since it’s for schoolwork purposes, which Kai takes as a personal challenge.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

This clock is taunting me. I know it. 

Tick. Tock. 

I keep staring at it. It’s like looking into the abyss, that clock. Nothing but a cold, dark emptiness on its face, and its hands constant reminders that you will never escape its grip should you succumb to its deadly glare. The trick to staring into the abyss is to not let it stare back at you. Well, I already lost that battle. The clock had me in its crosshairs. It knew I didn’t want to be here, and to make sure I knew that it was superior to me, it slowed itself down just to spite me. The minutes slowed to hours and the hours into eternities. I looked over at my neighbor’s desk and saw his papers withering away, before he himself turned to dusk. 

GABE! NO! DON’T GO! I NEED YOU!!!!! CURSE YOU CRUEL SCHOOL WORLD!!! JUST END ALREADY! I pounded my head on my desk, tortured by the continued negligence and cruelty of Father Time. I can’t take it anymore. Let me out of here! First you take my boy, now you keep me away from my diving equipment!? Have you no mercy!? 

“Hey, Kai,” Gabe asked, looking over my way and seeing my anguish on full display, “You doin’ alright, bud? You look a little stressed.” 

“I’m… just waiting for the day to end,” I admitted, my face drained of all life, “The clock is taunting me.” 

“Oh, alright then,” Gabe said, “Y’know you shouldn’t worry so much about the time. If you do that, it’ll only move slower.” It’s a good thing he’s cute and likes scuba diving, because I was about to completely disown him for that. With that infuriating nugget of information, he smiled before he returned to his studies. That’s what we were doing, by the way. Just studying, at least we were supposed to be doing. I was a bit distracted. This is so embarrassing! He noticed how eager I am to get the hell out of here! Ugh, c’mon. Focus, Kai, you’ll make it out of here. Just a little longer…. 

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

**_BRRRRRRING!!!!_ **

FREEDOM! I jump from my desk, the chorus of the bell rejuvenating my resolve. Hastily, I grab all of my things, and bolt for the door. I was the first one out of the classroom, beating the traffic jam that inevitably forms as all of my classmates try to get through the door at the same time. Our teacher was telling us something as we filed out, but I was long gone before I could hear what he had to say. It probably didn’t matter anyways. My wetsuit was telling me to get in the water, and I was more than willing to fulfill its request. By the time I made it to my locker, I was already imagining the next dive that I was going to go on tonight. The backpack slung over my shoulders might as well have been an air tank, and my shoes flippers. I could see the water rushing past my mask as I splashed down into the beautiful ocean, and the fish swimming past me as I made my way through their homes.

Oh, why couldn’t I have been born a mermaid? I was withering away in this Hawaiian air, drying up like a starfish on the beach. I had to get to the water fast. 

“Wait up, Kai!” Gabe called me from the classroom. I turned around, smiling as he ran up, “What’s the rush?” 

“Oh, sorry Gabe!” I apologized, bowing to him like the good Japanese man I was (well, half-Japanese), “I just really wanna get home!” 

At first, he was a little confused, but then it clicked. He sighed, “Let me guess. Scuba diving?” he asked, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, don’t roll your eyes at me like that! You know how much I like diving! I can’t take being on land any longer! I gotta get in the water, man!” It’s true. I hadn’t gone diving for the past week. All week, I was above water, in school, in the shop, hanging out with Gabe. All things that didn’t involve scuba diving. It made my skin crawl. Sure, whenever Gabe came over, we would grab our scuba gear and playfully wear it on land, but it wasn’t enough. I was wearing this wetsuit for a reason, and it was time to get it wet. I had been out of the water for way too long, and it was time to get in. Gabe knew that, and I’m sure he was eager to get in too, but he’s definitely more level headed than me. 

“Haha! You’ll never change, do you?” he chuckled, “Well I hate to burst your bubble, but we have that huge biology project to work on this weekend, remember?” 

“What biology project?” I cocked my head to the side, genuinely confused by what he was saying. Homework assignment? What? “I didn’t hear anything about that.” I say, baffled. 

“Well that’s probably because you had your head underwater,” my Latino boyfriend told me, scratching the back of his head, “and you raced out of the class before Mr. Iosua gave some last minute details on the thing.” 

“Ah….” My face turned completely red, the second biggest embarrassment of the day, after admitting to Gabe that I had been staring into the abyss for an hour or so. At least I didn’t tell him that I imagined that he had been turned to dust like one of Thano’s victims from  _ Avengers: Infinity War _ . 

He tried to jog my memory as we walked towards the exit. “Y’know… that huge project on the biodiversity of the Hawaiian islands? The one where we have to do tons of research and write a massive paper about our findings?” Gabe was beginning to sound a little worried that I had completely forgotten all about that project… and he wasn’t wrong, “That big project? Oh and it’s also due on Monday?” 

“Ah… yeah I guess I forgot about all of that.” I admitted, “Guess I should’ve been paying attention.” 

“Yeah… probably…” Gabe wasn’t impressed by my lack of retention skills, in fact, he was probably getting a little concerned about it. 

This wasn’t the first time he had to remind me about a major project or homework assignment. There was the History of Hawaii presentation that we did together, which he ended up doing most of the work for because I spent most of it underwater since I forgot about it. There was also a report I had to do on some book I read that I forgot about too but I’m sure it had something to do with oceans or diving, and he had to pick up the slack for me after having finished his own book report on the Pacific Front of World War II. He was becoming my better half, pulling me back up when my head was stuck in the ocean like a whale. I think he somewhat begrudged that role, but at the same time I think he was just happy to help, too. Something about him told me that he didn’t mind it all too much, but it was still easy to imagine him telling me off in Spanish behind my back, so I wouldn’t understand what he was saying. 

He wouldn’t do that… right?

“Anyways… we should probably focus on that instead of going scuba diving this weekend.” Gabe told me, pushing open the exit door and walking outside into the hot Hawaiian sun, “It’s a big project, and we should focus all of our efforts on it. Distracting ourselves with scuba diving isn’t going to help us any.” 

“Aww… that sucks.” I started to pout, trying to win him over with my tears, “Not even one short dive? Just one? Before we get started? We can go right now. I know you have your wetsuit close by. All we have to do is swing by the dive shop and pick up some gear and we’re golden! Just a short little dive before we get going, please? I’ve been waiting all week to go diving!” For extra effect, I cuddled up to him, rubbing against his body like a puppy or a kitten begging for attention, blinking my eyes for extra effect. I seriously looked like a doting lover, but it was all I could do to get him to buckle. However, it wasn’t as effective as I thought it would be. Gabe was an aircraft carrier; an unsinkable aircraft carrier, or Cyprus as he had described it once before. 

“You know I would drop everything I’m doing and go scuba diving with you in a heartbeat on the weekends,” he told me as we walked down the steps and past the school buses full of our peers pulling away for other parts of the island, “but this isn’t the time for that. We really need to focus on this, and you and I both know that there’s no such thing as a ‘short dive’ with the two of us. We’d waste the whole evening underwater if we did that, and you’d probably forget all about it.”

“Right….” I hung my head low, feeling defeated. He’s starting to sour on scuba diving, I just know it. I think I’m pushing it too hard, and he’s pushing back now. If I keep this up, he’s gonna start thinking I’m weird, just like everyone else in this school. Dammit, Kai! You had one shot of getting a friend here in this school and you’re blowing it now! Back to eating alone at lunch and diving all by myself. 

He put a hand on my black neoprene shoulder, looked me in the eyes, and said, with sweet, honeysuckle words, “Don’t worry, Kai. I promise as soon as we’re done with the project, we’re gonna spend as much time in the water as possible.” 

He was trying to cheer me up, make me feel better about him wanting to be more focused on the project over having fun with me, but it wasn’t working too well. Sure, being with him regardless of what we were doing was more than enough for me, but it wasn’t the same if we weren’t diving. It tore me up inside that he didn’t want to jump right in. As much as I knew that Gabe was right and that we really should be focusing on the biology project, it still made me bitter. What good was studying Hawaiian biology if we weren’t going to be going diving?!

Wait…. I think I might have something going with that. Light bulbs went off in my head. I think I found a loophole to Gabe’s diving ban. 

“Hey, Gabe.” I said, as we walked away from the school and towards Pearl Harbor, “We haven’t decided exactly what to do for this project, right?” 

“Uh… no not really,” Gabe admitted, “I was hoping we could discuss that when we got back to the dive shop. I assumed we’d discuss the project there.” 

“Good assumption.” I grinned, “Well, I have a pretty good idea for that project.” 

“Oh? What is it?” Gabe seemed curious. I had him hooked, and I hadn’t even said anything yet.

“Well.” I stopped for a moment, mustering my confidence, standing straight and tall like I’m about to present to the president, “We should do our project on the marine wildlife of Hawaii.” 

“Ah I see, I was thinking about suggesting the sa-.” Gabe tried to talk down the idea, but I wouldn’t let him. I hit him with my left hook.

“And…” I interrupted, “We should take the pictures for the presentation ourselves by scuba diving all over the islands this weekend.” 

Gabe was taken aback by my suggestion. I’m sure a part of him knew something like this was coming, but it was still a shock to the military minded young man. At first, he tried to retort, probably thinking something along the lines of “You’re just saying that so that you have an excuse to go diving.” He’s not wrong about that, by the way. However, he took a minute to think it over, not immediately jumping the gun. I like how he furrows he looks when he thinks, furrowing his brow and holding his chin in his hand like some great philosopher. It’s really fitting of him. 

“Hmm… well it’s obvious that you’re suggesting this only because you want to go diving more than anything.” I’m a total open book, and he’d read me cover to cover in a millisecond, as expected, “But, I think you’re onto something.” My eyes lit up like flashlights in an underwater cave when he said that, “We’d have a very unique project with having actually gone underwater to snap those photos instead of getting them off of the internet, and we could speak from experience on what the various fish species that live around the islands are like as we’ve interacted with them countless times.” 

“Yeah!” I nodded, “Plus, this’ll be way more fun than just sitting around the house all day, going research on the internet about some birds or whatever that neither one of us care about.”  _ Even though we were probably going to be doing that research in scuba gear anyways.  _ I kept that addendum to myself. I’ve already dug this diving hole deep enough. I better not make him mad with that snarky comment. I’m getting close. Don’t blow it.

“Hmm… yeah! Let’s do it!” Gabe grinned, giving me a thumbs up and patting my shaved head, “Great job coming up with that idea!” 

“Aww, thanks, Gabe!” I blushed, declaring victory in my mind over the battle he had waged over my diving plans. He was foolish to think he could keep me from the water so easily.

“On one condition.” he added, sending my hopes crashing down, “This is a serious dive. No playing, no fooling around, no getting lost in the coral because you just couldn’t help yourself. We stay on topic, and we keep to the mission at hand. Any insubordination and I’m dragging you back to the boat and chaining you to the captain’s chair.” 

“Ah! That’s really mean of you!” I gasped, “I never took your for the kidnapping type!” 

“Don’t push my buttons.” he threatened, “We really do need to get this project started, so no lollygagging on my ship. Understand?” 

“SIR, YES SIR!” I screamed, straightening my back and giving him a proud salute like a cadet in boot camp addressing their drill sergeant. It seemed that the extra serious son of a navy pilot couldn’t keep his face straight upon seeing my little display. 

“Hehe… at ease, sailor.” he said, prompting me to loosen up and return to normalcy. I looked ahead and saw the Admiral Clarey Bridge up ahead. Gabe lived on the other side of it, on Ford Island in the harbor, so we were going to have to split soon. He knew it too. “Since you just came up with that idea, why don’t we discuss this more tomorrow morning before our dive?” 

“Actually, I think we can get that all ironed out today.” I insisted. Not wanting to waste any time, I broke out into a run, which shocked my Spanish-speaking boyfriend, who darted ahead to keep up. 

“Hey, wait up!” he called, trying to slow me down.

“Meet me back at the dive shop in an hour!” I yelled to him, “Make sure you’re wearing your wetsuit too!” That was a little extra part for me, we weren’t actually going diving today after all. I just wanted to see him in his wetsuit again, especially since it’d been half a week since he wore it last, after he surprised me on Tuesday when he wore it to class under his clothes like how I wear mine.

“Alright then!” Gabe called back, “See ya later!” With that, he turned onto the Admiral Clarey Bridge and headed into Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, I headed further inland, towards the dive shop, eager to get everything ready for my own personal demonstration to my partner in crime on our path forward for this research project. I had a lot on my mind about this. 

He wanted a serious dive, then he was gonna get one. And lucky me, we just got some new stuff come into the shop and it’ll be  _ perfect _ for this. Haha! He’s gonna flip out when he sees this stuff!

Thank God I live and work in a diving shop. 

I raced home as soon as we split, bounding up the steps and inside, the bells on the door jingling to welcome me in. I threw my stuff to the ground, took off my street clothes, revealing my orange and black wetsuit, and headed for the back room. Brushing past the various displays of diving gear and wetsuits, I paid them no mind. Normally, I drooled over them, contemplating what one I wanted to use next, but today was different. I was a man on a mission. I knew exactly what it was that I wanted to use, and I hastily put everything together for Gabe when he got here. 

In the back, I perused our storage, looking around to see if we had what we needed. Along the back wall, high up off the floor, was a shelf of LAMA gear, with the bubble already attached and missing its weights. I always thought that was a rather precarious place to put those, but given my parents’ aversion to the gear, they probably just put it up there so that they could forget about it. I made sure I wouldn’t forget about them like they had, and I still maintain them despite their wishes. However, I wasn’t looking for that. A serious dive meant we couldn’t be looking like space aliens underwater. Below that was a rack of wetsuits, which were somewhat special. They were mostly black with only one color at the collar, with attached hoods. They were the wetsuits designed to be used with the coveted dual hose full face mask I raved about. But again, that wasn’t what I was after. There was a Kirby Morgan SuperLite on the table nearby, and I contemplating using that. Though, I think that might’ve been  _ too  _ serious for what we were going to do, not to mention we’d have to rig up surface tanks to make it work. Pretty soon, I found it, picking up two of each, smiling as I started measuring it out to see if it would fit me and Gabe. 

Speaking of him, it actually didn’t take long for him to get here. An hour later, right on cue, the bells chimed, signaling his arrival. 

“Kai, I’m here!” Gabe called out, reassuring me it was him. He closed the door behind him, the open/close sign shuttering with the movement. It was in the closed position, so we wouldn’t be interrupted by customers. Just in time, I had just managed to gather everything I needed for our future dive. 

“I’m in the back!” I called back to him, “Come in! I’ve got something to show you!” 

“Alright then.” he said, presumably walking past the checkout desk and the 1984 sign on the wall, and into the back room. He hadn’t been back there in a while, and was still getting used to the absolute garage sale it looked like in here. He turned to see me, walking up. 

“Hey, Kai.” he waved. He was wearing his black and blue wetsuit with the stirrups, and only that, just like I’d asked him to. Every time I see him in it, my heart goes aflutter. He looks awesome in it, and it suits him well. I just wish he wore it more often. 

“Hey, Gabe.” I smiled, “So, are you ready to see what I’ve got for you?” I had my arms behind my back, hiding something from him. I was grinning ear to ear waiting for my chance to show it to him. 

“Well first off can you tell me why you wanted me to change into my wetsuit before this?” Gabe asked, “I think we could’ve saved the time and just done this without the suits.” 

“Oh come on, man. You know how much I like wetsuits! You’re killing my mojo here.” I was getting a little irked by him complaining so much about my insistence on wearing wetsuits all the time, so I figured I’d give him the 411 on that habit. “Here, let me give you some advice. I always wear my wetsuit so that I’m always ready to go diving. So, whenever I ask you to put yours on, it’s a good chance that we’re gonna do something diving related. Maopopo?” 

“Huh?” Gabe clearly didn’t understand that last one. I guess I shouldn’t have slipped into Hawaiian for that, but if he can have a whole conversation with his dad in Spanish right in front of me, I can throw some Hawaiian at him. Just seems fair. 

“Capiche? Do you understand?” I translated.

“Oh. Right, I understand. I’m sorry for bringing it up.” Gabe said, a little embarrassed it seemed that I had curb stomped him like that. Hey, I can be aggressive if I want to, “So whatcha got behind your back?” 

“Oh, just this!” I pulled my arms forward, showing him the two masks in my hand, one yellow and the other black. He lit up as soon as he caught sight of them.

“Woah! AGAs!” he gasped, “That’s awesome!” 

“You said you wanted to dive with serious gear, so here’s some super serious gear. Some Divator AGA Full Face Masks.” I handed him the yellow one, keeping the black one for myself, “Eia iā 'oe. Here you go.” 

“Thanks.” he took the mask gratefully. Curious, he held it up to his face, seeing how it fit on his head. He strapped it over his head, making sure it was tight against his face to prevent any leakage. He breathed in, moaning with pleasure at the smell of rubber and the feel of the mask. I could swear out of the corner of my eye I saw a little creeping snake work its way up his wetsuit from his groin. 

He really was just like me.

“Oooh this is great!” he moaned, taking off the mask, “I can’t believe you got us professional gear to use!” 

“Mhm. Only the best for serious dives. Plus with a mask like this, we can still communicate via radio, like during our LAMA gear dives. No need for hand signals like normal mouthpiece regulators.” 

“¡Bacan!” He was practically jumping up and down, so excited to use the real deal diving gear, like a professional. I could tell he was really getting into scuba diving if he was getting excited over a diving mask. 

“Mhm! And that’s not even the best part.” I egged him on. 

His hopping stopped. He looked at me a little confused, “Oh yeah? What do you mean?” 

“Why don’t you wait out in the lobby for a little bit?” I told him, “I’ll call you back in when I’m ready.” 

My Hispanic boyfriend didn’t understand what I was going on about, which is exactly what I wanted. He didn’t protest, and left the back room, waiting in the shop for me to finish up. 

Alone once again, I got to work on my next magic trick. I reached up and grabbed one of the suits hanging from the bar above me. However, this wasn’t a normal wetsuit. In fact, it wasn’t even a wetsuit at all. This was a Viking drysuit, one of only a few that we had in the shop. The main benefit of a drysuit is that it kept the water out completely, allowing you to wear whatever you wanted underneath. It was great for cold water diving, but we don’t exactly have cold water in Hawaii, so there’s no real reason to have a drysuit. However, they’re mostly used for professional applications, and since he wants serious gear, we are legally obligated to use it. 

I unzipped its back, shoulder-to-shoulder zipper and stepped in. Drysuits are way easier to get on than a wetsuit, as they’re very, very loose. Wetsuits cling to your body, forcing you to work it up to put it on. Drysuits, on the other hand, could be put on just like a normal cotton shirt and jeans. I slipped it on, putting my feet into the attached booties at the ends of the pant legs. I put my arms into the sleeves, which were loose, and would be closed with a tight seal on the gloves. The seal was the same with the neck, which was tight rubber. I forced my head through, coming out the other side with the scent of rubber in my nose. I reached back and zipped the zipper back up, sealing me inside. Finally, I took a pair of booties and slipped them on, tucking the pant legs of the drysuit into them to finish the seal. No water was getting in this suit. No sir. 

I looked around my body, giddy as a school boy to see my body covered by a drysuit. I’ve only worn it once before, and now I wish I had worn it more. I forgot how good I looked in it. Mine was orange and black, with the orange part covering my chest, and half of my arms, with the rest of the suit in black, including the legs, arms, and the collar and shoulders. Content, I called my boyfriend back in. 

“Gabe!” I yelled, “You can come back in now!” In seconds, I saw the door open, and he walked back in, holding the AGA mask in his hand. 

I’m surprised he didn’t drop it the moment he saw me in my drysuit. He did have to pick his jaw up from the floor though. 

“Woah…” he gawked, “We’re gonna wear drysuits?” 

“Yep!” I nodded, smiling, “Ta-da!” 

“That’s incredible!!!” he ran up to me, circling me like a puppy greeting his master from a long day at the office, “How hard was it to put on? How does it feel? Where’s mine? What do all of those valves do? Where’s the hood and gloves? How do you put flippers over boots like that?” 

“Woah woah slow down there, Gabe!” I’ve never seen him so excited about anything before. He really was becoming a scuba diving enthusiast. He calmed down, jumping up and down while I gave him the answers he wanted. He soaked in everything I had to say like a sponge, and it was clear to me he couldn’t wait to get into the water after seeing these demonstrations. The serious navy brat was slowly washing away like sand on a beach. I soaked in his admiration as well, standing proud and tall, like the role model that he probably thought I was. 

“Man I can’t wait to get in the water tomorrow!” he said, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Same here.” I agreed, reaching back and grabbing the zipper, starting to take off the drysuit. I’ll save wearing it out for tomorrow. 

“Hey, what’s that gear over there on the table?” Gabe pointed towards the diving helmet on the table behind me, “Looks like some really serious tech.” 

“Oh that? It’s a Kirby Morgan SuperLite.” I told him, pulling my head out from the rubber seal and stepping out of the suit, “It’s actually really heavy duty, almost too heavy duty.” 

“But it’s a serious diving gear, right?” he pressed, “why don’t we use that instead?” 

“I… uh… well… It’s not really suitable for what we’re going to be doing, Gabe.” I told him, for once being the reasonable person in the room, which left a sour taste in my mouth, “Our air would be surface supplied, and we wouldn’t be able to swim. We’re much better off with the AGAs for this project.” 

“Oh… alright then.” Gabe said, picking up the gear and playfully putting it on his head. He struggled to hold it up on his head it was so heavy, “Oof! That’s way too much!” He took it off, putting it back on the table, conceding that he wasn’t quite ready to use it yet. 

“So,” I began, hanging the drysuit back up on the rack, showing off my glorious wetsuit once again, “What should we do for the rest of the night? Wanna spend the night here?” 

“Sure!” Gabe smiled, “We’ll talk about our project tonight before bed, and we’ll head out for the reef tomorrow. Got a place in mind for our dive?” 

“Yep! But I’m keeping it a secret! For now, grab some gear and let’s head up and have some fun!” I rushed around, grabbing some flippers, a weight belt, an air tank, and LAMA gear, hastily putting it all on and heading upstairs. Gabe did the same, choosing his coveted AGA mask he still had in his hand over the LAMA gear. 

We spent the rest of the night playing games, watching movies, and discussing the project, all while wearing our favorite diving gear on land. Air pumped into my helmet and his mask from the tanks, keeping us cool. We had to refill our tanks something like three times during the night. Thank God my parents were out again, or they would’ve had my hide for wasting store resources like this. 

They really should try it themselves though. It’s so relaxing wearing gear on land.

* * *

The Next Morning

* * *

I never get sick of going out on the water. The wind in my hair, the salt tinged air in my nostrils, bringing in the scents of the Pacific, the roar of the boat’s motor chopping through the waves, and the sun shining down on me, promising a great day ahead. This was the life, and to top it off, we were heading to go scuba diving. The island of Oahu lay to our port side, and we carved up the waves lapping against the shore. We left early in the morning, and planned to spend as much time in the water as possible. We packed our gear up, including for the first time underwater cameras for each of us to use. I captained the boat, while Gabe sat idle by my side, eager to get to the site, which he still knew nothing about. 

“Maintaining course at 43 knots.” I stated, “Wind speed, nominal. Oceans steady. Should be arriving at our destination in a few minutes, captain.” 

“Very good, Ensign Ka’aukai.” Gabe replied, back stiff, wetsuit on tight, under his drysuit, ready to roll. Both of us already had our drysuits on overtop of our wetsuits, just a few steps away from getting in the water. We had playfully decided to roleplay during the trip, with Gabe taking the role of a naval captain, and me his lackey. It was a blast to say the least. 

“Destination in sight.” I cut power to the engines, got up and lay anchor, while Gabe looked around, wondering where we were.

“Where are we, Kai?” he asked. As far as he knew, we were just near some random island on the northeast side of Oahu. 

“Well, we’re just off the coast of Kaohikaipu Island.” I told him, pointing towards the island in question, “That little island is Kaohikaipu, and it’s a bird sanctuary, and there’s a ton of reefs around it!” 

“Huh… perfect!” Gabe grinned, “Let’s get going then!” He got up from his chair and reached for his gear, which sat right next to mine. 

Our gear was pretty much identical, save for the colors. Mine was in oranges and blacks, while his was yellows and blues. My drysuit was orange with black, while his was blue with black, matching our wetsuits. We started with the gloves, which had a tight seal around our wrists. They were a little hard to get on because of it, but that’s what you want with drysuits. We slipped a small, waterproof radio receiver into our ears, barely larger than an earbud, which would let us hear each other, our voices captured by a small microphone inside the AGA mask itself. 

Something that was a first for Gabe (outside of using a drysuit and an AGA diving mask) was wearing a hood. We each grabbed a neoprene hood and slipped it on over our heads. It was very tight, pressing tight against our heads, just like a wetsuit. I tucked it into the collar of my drysuit, with Gabe watching closely to make sure he did it right. He also made sure all of his hair was safely tucked away inside the hood. 

“Wow that’s tight.” he remarked, fighting with the hood to get his hair in. 

“Yep!” I smiled, “All to make sure there’s no water getting in. Now get your flippers on, and then I’ll help you with the tank. It’s a little more complicated than a normal air tank.” Gabe rolled his eyes, thinking there couldn’t be too much different from a standard air tank, but he didn’t complain, and let me work it out for him. 

He slipped his flippers on, strapping them to his booties tight. He then reached down and slung the air tank over his shoulders. Immediately, he noticed there were way more air lines than there were on a standard scuba air tanks. A normal tank had only three lines at most: one for the regulator, another for the pressure gauge, and a final for a rescue, auxiliary regulator in the event the partner diver (protip: you should never ever ever dive alone). Some gear didn’t have a rescue, and some didn’t have the pressure gauge, and some only had the main regulator line. It all depends on the model, style, and age of the unit. 

However, this tank had been fitted for drysuits, and had FIVE LINES coming out from the top of the tank, all hanging limp, waiting for someone to give them some purpose. Three of them were the same three from a standard air tank: main regulator, auxiliary regulator, and the pressure gauge. The two extra hoses were a mystery to Gabe though, so I came to the rescue and showed and explained them to him. 

“So first off let’s get your mask connected to the main regulator hose.” I told him, grabbing his yellow AGA mask and connecting its regulator securely to the end of the hose, “These two are the inflator hoses, and they help with buoyancy underwater.” 

“Buoyancy?” Gabe questioned, “I thought we were already pretty buoyant naturally.” 

“We are, but a drysuit complicates things.” I told him, “So this helps to counteract that complication.” I took one of the hoses and brought it to the valve on his chest, “Now, one of the screws on here.” I screwed it on, tightening it as much as I could, and moving on to the next one, “and the other one screws onto the valve on your left arm.” I did the same here, completing the assembly. 

“There,” I smiled, “That should do it. Now you know how to put on a drysuit in case we ever go diving in the Great Lakes.” 

“Or Alaska.” Gabe smirked. 

“Don’t count either of those out!” I shot back, “We’ll get there someday!” I leaned in for a kiss, which Gabe was happy to oblige, giving a quick peck before we slipped our masks on. 

Our faces disappeared behind the opaque rubber, with only our eyes visible through the visor. Cool air filled in from the tanks, passing through us and then out the exhaust on the regulator to the side. We sat down on the side of the boat, shoulder to shoulder, looking out at the ocean in front of us, eager to dive in. I turned to face Gabe, who looked at me with stars in his eyes, excited to try out yet another type of diving gear, and getting to work on our school project at the same time. He was on cloud nine combining those two things together. All that was left to make him even happier was to make it a military exercise, with a drill sergeant barking orders at us. 

“Ready, Gabe?” I asked. 

“Ready when you are!” he replied, “On 3…” 

“One…” I started, leaning back slightly, still holding onto the boat with one hand and my camera in the other.

“Two….” Gave said, starting to lean back too. 

“THREE!” We let go of the boat, letting gravity pull us down into the water below. Our bodies hit the sea and disappeared in the splash. I opened my eyes and, just like the very first time I went scuba diving, was awed by the new world I had just arrived in. 

“Woah.” me and Gabe both gasped. It’s weird. Even though I had been to this particular point a few times before, I always seemed to be amazed by the ocean. It doesn’t matter how many times I go diving, how many scenes I see, I’ll always be amazed by the sea’s majesty.

Boundless coral reefs unfolded in front of us. Surrounding the small island were countless species of coral, all arranged in an artfully chaotic design that, if viewed from above, would’ve made Jackson Pollock proud I assume. For every design and species of coral, there seemed to be three different species of fish and animals surrounding it. It was hard to tell just what all was there, but we knew what it enough to help us with our project. Documenting them was going to be wonderful. 

“Can you feel that?” I asked Gabe, nudging him. 

“No, what is it?” he replied. 

“The feeling of being in water again.” I reminded him, “Feels good, doesn’t it? Breathing out of tank air, floating around under the sea, and letting the current pass by your flippers.” 

“Yeah it does.” he admitted, probably smiling but the AGA mask made it impossible for me to see. Curse that inner nose cup mask thing. I love it, but at the same time facial emotions are completely destroyed. 

“This,” I said, taking a deep breath, “This is my home, and I think it’s yours too.” 

“Hehe… Okay let’s not get all philosophical now.” Gabe reasoned, bringing me back down to Earth, “We’ve got work to do. Remember you promised this would be a serious dive. That’s why we went to the trouble of wearing drysuits in Hawaii.” 

“Right right…” I chuckled, scratching the back of my head. He really was the more reasonable one between us. 

“First things first,” Gabe said, “let’s run through the schedule. We’ve got an hour or so of air time in these tanks, and in that time we need to take as many photos of as many different species of coral and fish as we can, all the while taking mental notes of our observations.” 

“And, if we have any concerns,” I pointed out, “we’ll ask my mom at the research institute for advice and help when we get back to dry land.” I don’t know if I’ve pointed this out yet or not, but my mother works at the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology. She’s a world renowned marine biologist, whose work has been published in several scientific journals the world over, and her findings have been revolutionary. She’s one of two legends in the field, along with a woman from Australia. Dr. Natalie Mandarin I believe. I’m sure they’ve worked together before, probably went diving together too. Anyways, I'm getting off track here. 

“Correct.” Gabe nodded, “Now don’t get lost in the weeds. Keep your cool. This is not a pleasure dive. We’re men on a mission here.” 

“Aye aye, sir!” I gave him a mock salute, making light of how stern and commanding he was being. 

“Alright, with that said,” he said, turning towards the reef, kicking off, “let’s get started!” With that, he swam off into the reef, camera in hand, ready to see everything there was to see. 

I followed along, keeping my distance. We were going to split up and search the reef individually, keeping a close eye on the other. If we got out of visual range of the other, we were to backtrack and find the other, calling them on the radio until we found each other. 

I found my first subject not long after kicking off. A kapuhili, known in English as an oval butterflyfish. Its yellow body and black stripes were unmistakable. I caught him just as he was coming out of his coral home. They like to hide a lot, and there’s no better place to hide from predators than deep inside coral formations. They’re like caves, those hollows, full of dark blind spots, great for hiding eggs and making a home. I’ve seen them a lot on my dives, but I always seem to scare them off before I can get a closer look at them. Well, this time, I had a camera with an optical zoom on it. No need to get too close and chase it away. I readied my camera, putting it in focus on the flat bodied fish, and snapped a shot worthy of the Louvre’s permanent photography collection. 

Okay maybe it wasn’t  _ that  _ good but you get what I mean. 

“I got my first photo!” I called over the radio. I looked around and saw him swimming a half-dozen meters away from me, on another side of the reef. He had his camera out, ready to snap at a moment’s notice, looking around for his next subject.

“Oh yeah? What’d you find?” Gabe replied, turning my way. 

“It’s a kapuhili.” I told him, “An oval butterflyfish.” 

“Nice work. I haven’t found any… oh wait I think I got something.” Gabe’s tone shifted from disappointment to intrigue in a flash. I saw him crouch down, ready his camera, and snap a photo of the nearest fish. From this distance, I couldn’t tell what it is, but I saw the flash go off, so it must’ve been something hidden in the shadows. 

“What’d you find?” I asked, curious.

“I don’t know. Looks like some kind of eel. It’s got a yellow head and a white body.” 

“Oh you found a yellowhead moray. Those are called puhi in Hawaiian.” 

“This one is?” 

“Actually most moray eels are named puhi in Hawaiian.” I gave him a little shrug, not really sure why the language hadn’t gone to great lengths to differentiate the many different types of moray eel out there and just settled on a catch-all term for the entire family of species, “We aren’t really specific with our eels it seems.” 

“Ah. Well let’s keep moving. There’s more where they came from.” Gabe swam off to another part of the reef, with the two of us growing further apart. 

I looked around further in this area, seeing if there were any neighbors to my first find. Sure enough, there were a few. Not far from where the kapuhila was, I found a loulu, which is the Hawaiian name for the scrawled filefish. Like the other fish, it had a predominantly yellow body, but it was much longer than the kapuhila, and it had blue spots on it instead of black stripes. Its overall shape was different, with a much more pronounced snout. It swam out from the coral, passing right by me and towards some other coral behind me. I had to act quick to take a photo of it, because I saw a few other fish out of the corner of my eye. I snapped the photo and immediately turned to face the next contestant. 

It was a painted frogfish (no Hawaiian name this time) and I could barely see him. He was well camouflaged with the rest of the coral reef around him, hiding from predators like sharks, or fourteen-year-old chubby Hawaiian divers. I got a photo of him before he blended in further and I lost him. His eyes widened as the flash struck him, and he darted out of his hiding spot, realizing he had been discovered, and wriggled away, out of my sight. 

“Guess he didn’t want to say aloha.” I shrugged. 

“What was that, Kai?” Gabe asked, hearing me complaining over the radio.

“Oh nothing,” I said, “I snapped a picture of a painted frogfish, and it got scared and ran off.” 

“That’s been happening with a lot of fish today. I got a photo of a tang and it scurried off as soon as the flash went off.” 

“Fish don’t like bright flashes like that, but we have to use it or our photos won’t look so good. Kind of a disappointment but at least we’re getting the photos.” We kept swimming separate, at least for a little while longer. Each of us got a ton of different fish, with Gabe scoring a few different species of parrotfish and angelfish, while I managed to snag shots of several different smaller fish and some eels. I even caught sight of a school of āholehole, or Hawaiian flagtails. Their silver bodies shimmered in the light, forming vivid formations and splendid light shows. I waited for just the right moment; waiting for the perfect form to appear, and snapped the photo. The flash scared them all off, never to be seen again, meaning I really did get a one in a million shots. 

At some point, we met back up, and started swimming together. In our totally meaningless competition to see who could get the most pictures, I was in the lead. I had 7 pictures of fish to Gabe’s 5 when we met back up. 

“I win!” I declared, “Now you owe me big time.” 

“What? We never agreed to this!” Gabe protested, “I object!” 

“Too bad! I’m king here!” I told him, “Now, I want you to wear your wetsuit to school all week tomorrow! No ifs, ands, or buts, boy.” 

“Ugh, alright then.” Gabe relented, realizing there was no point in protesting, “Can we just keep going then?” 

“Sure. Let’s swim together for the rest of the time.” With that, we swam together through the reef, snapping as many photos as possible of as many fish as we could. It was hard to keep track of them all. 

“Auweke, pahu, lauwiliwili nukunuku ʻoiʻoi.” I listed off the various types of fish as I snapped photos of them, in Hawaiian of course, “Ooo an ʻupāpalu! That’s a really small one.” 

“You really know your Hawaiian.” Gabe commented. 

“Yeah I learned it from a young age, along with scuba diving.” I said, “My parents wanted me to appreciate my home, both above and below the water line.” I sighed, putting my camera down for a moment, “You think it’s weird, don’t you?” 

“Why would you think that?” Gabe asked, probably blinking, “I speak another language. I think it’s awesome you can too!” 

“Thanks, but I wasn’t really talking about the Hawaiian.” I told him, “I meant the diving thing.” 

“What?” He sounded confused by my correction, “Why would you think that?” 

“Well…” I took a deep breath, “Everyone does. No one thinks what I do is cool. Everyone just knows me as the crazy diving kid. Everyone’s into football or sports or the military. Even the swim and dive teams don’t like me that much because of how much I like scuba diving above all else. I haven’t made any friends at school, so I just spend all my time scuba diving alone, and then it just makes people think I’m even weirder.” All this admitting and reflecting made me cry. Tears started running down my face, which I was glad Gabe couldn’t see me, but he could hear me sobbing through the radio. I was unloading on him all of my woes from school, and I couldn’t keep myself together doing it. I felt shameful for making him do something he didn’t want to do, but I don’t know what else to do. 

“I won’t be surprised or too upset if you decide you find me weird too. Everyone else has and-.” 

Just as I was about to break into a full out cry and run away, I felt something crash into me from behind. I felt long arms wrapping around me like tentacles. But they weren’t from an octopus, instead they were human. I looked back and saw it was Gabe, wrapping himself around me from behind, holding me and my tank in his arms. I could hear him sobbing too through the radio, which confused me. He’s not going to run away? He’s not going to disown me? 

“You idiot!” he cried, “Why would you think something like that?” 

“Wh-Wha? What the?” I stuttered, crying too, turning around to face him, “What are you doing? Why are you crying?” 

“Because you’re so wrong!” Gabe sobbed, “You’re wrong about everything and I can’t believe you can’t see it!” 

“I-I don’t understand….”

“You’re not weird.” Gabe told me, “You’re the coolest person I’ve ever met! You’re dedicated, creative, and just super fun to be with. I love that you love scuba diving, and I love that you introduced me to it. You’ve changed my whole outlook on life and I can’t thank you enough for it.” he paused for a moment, holding me at arms length, and stared me in the eyes. I could see tears gushing out of his eyes like a waterfall. I’m sure mine were the same, “I love you so much, Kai! Screw everyone else if they think you’re weird. Who cares what they think? You’ll convince them, I know it! You convinced me! I’m sure you can convince them too!” 

Curse this boy. He’s so cute and convincing. I was in tears and he helped me back up, the first time anyone had done that for me. My eyes dried up, and I held myself back up, “I-I’m sorry, Gabe.” I apologized, “You’re the first person who’s ever been this way with me.” I smiled, wrapping my arms around him too, the two of us embraced in each other’s arms, floating over the corals and the fish below, “Thank you for being there for me, Gabe. I love you so much.” 

“I love you too, Kai.” he replied, his voice soft and warm. We touched our masks together, as if kissing, which I’m sure we’d do a lot of when we got back on the boat. 

Just as we were about to get back to work, I looked up and saw the most wonderful thing ever. 

“Woah!” I immediately broke away from Gabe, turned him around and pointed up at the surface, “Look at that!” 

“What? Oh my god!” he gasped, getting his camera ready to snap as many photos as possible of the beast. 

We watched as a massive sea turtle passed overhead of us. The surely one hundred plus year old creature was graceful and slow in its movement, not paying us any mind. It had the patience to withstand any criticisms and just go with the flow. I admired that. It must’ve been fate that it came to us at this time, because I couldn’t think of a better explanation for us sobbing about things that don’t matter than to have a sea turtle pass overhead during it. He had seen it all, and now we had seen him. I couldn’t help but gawk at it, and I nearly forgot to take pictures of it. I made sure to get as many angles as I could from our vantage point, not wanting to disturb him at all. He was a great subject, staying relatively still while we took our photos, not a care in the world that we were there. With our photos done, and our minds blown, he went on his way, circling around the small island and disappearing from our sights, leaving both of us awestruck. 

“Wow…. you don’t see that everyday, Gabe.” I said. 

“You can say that again.” he gasped. 

“C’mon.” I kicked off, heading back towards the anchor, “I think we got enough photos for the project. Let’s head back home.” 

“Right.” he followed me towards the anchor, both of us swimming up to the boat above. 

It had been aimlessly floating in the ocean, tied down by the heavy weight submerged beneath the waves. We climbed aboard, water dripping onto the deck of the ship. We ripped off our masks and immediately shared a moment. Gabe and I embraced each other the same as we did underwater, and shared a long kiss, just happy to be with each other. I didn’t realize how long we spent down there, or how long it took us to get back to the shore, but I know that it didn’t matter so long as I was with him. 

* * *

One Week Later

* * *

BRRINGG!

The school bell rang, signalling for all of us to grab our bags and get out of dodge. I jumped out of my seat, threw all of my things into my bookbag and headed for the door, beating the crowd once more. I was ready to get home, and get back in the water. Even though it was only Monday, I had a class to teach, so I got pool time with the trainees. I wasn’t about to miss that!

“Gabe! Wait up!” 

The voice of my love and best friend stopped me dead in my tracks, as usual. I turned to see him racing after me, holding a few sheets of paper loose in his hand. He stopped and held one out to me, “You forgot this. Again.” he said, panting.

“What is it?” I asked, perplexed. I took the sheet and looked it over, still unsure.

“It’s our grades for the project we did a week ago!” he said, “Y’know the one that we went scuba diving to get all those pictures for? We even showed up to class with our wetsuits on and our masks just to show what we were using.” 

“Oh right, that!” I said, remembering the project. It was only a week ago, but my mind had already nearly forgotten about it. We had compiled all of our findings into a neat and tidy PowerPoint presentation, with us each explaining just what it was that we did. Indeed, we had shown up with our wetsuits on, and when we got up on stage, we had taken off our outer clothes and presented in only our wetsuits, something that both of us were very proud of. I looked over at my boyfriend and saw that his arms and legs were both covered by neoprene, so he wore his today as well. He was catching on quickly. 

“Looks like we did pretty well!” Gabe smiled, “Your idea paid off!” 

“Yeah it looks like it!” I grinned, “It’s gonna do wonders for my grade point average.” 

“Oh yeah? What is your GPA?” he asked, curious. 

I swallowed a little bit of spit there. I wasn’t sure I wanted to reveal that information to somebody I could call Mr. Perfect and honestly deserve it, but I did anyways. “It’s… uh… not great….” I admitted, “It’s just a 2.5. Nothing crazy.”

“2.5?!” he cried, the color draining from his face, “Wha?! How is it that low?!” 

“I guess I just spend so much time diving that I don’t have any left for studying.” 

“Bullshit! I dive just as much as you do and I have 4.0!” 

“A perfect four?!” I gasped. I knew he was Mr. Perfect but I wasn’t expecting a 4.0 GPA. I was staring at our class’ valedictorian if that’s the case! 

Oh shit, I’m dating the class valedictorian. Talk about prestige. 

“C’mon now,” Gabe grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the exit, books in hand and everything. I had no choice but to follow along. I hadn’t seen him this forceful in a while. Something about that revelation must’ve really gotten to him. 

“What are we doing, Gabe? Where are we going?” I asked.

“We’re gonna study together from now on.” Gabe replied, “It’s only natural that I’d help you after you helped me! So from now on we’re going to be studying my way.” 

Now the color drained from my face. The notorious navy brat probably had a very strict studying regimen, and I was not prepared to take part in that. “What?!” I protested, “I-I-I….” 

“And if you refuse, you can forget scuba diving with me.” Gabe threatened. That one really stabbed me in the heart. I knew he was only half serious, but it was still a bitter pill to swallow. I had no choice, my hands were tied, and I gave in. 

He dragged me away and we spent the rest of the week studying for the upcoming exams. My head’s never hurt so bad in my life, both from all the knowledge, and all the times that Gabe hit me when I fell asleep. He’s such a strict teacher, just like I thought he was. It was crazy that he understood all this stuff. Linear algebra, chemistry, physics, world history. He knew it all. I don’t know if I could take it all in. 

But I had to, and I wanted to. For him. He was my boyfriend and I was his, and we helped each other out. I helped him realize his unfound love and passion, and he’s helping me get better grades. Kind of an uneven trade if you ask me. I helped him out way more than he did me, but whatever. I’m getting to spend even more time with him, and that’s all that matters. 


	4. Introducing the Best Diver in Japan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Commission for AlCharlie
> 
> ===/===/===
> 
> Kai's cousin Takumi is visiting from Japan, and seeks to oust Gabe as Kai's best friend using his diving skills. 
> 
> ===/===/===
> 
> Kipona Aloha © AlCharlie

Why is it so hot in Hawaii? I really wanna know. I’ve been here for only half an hour and I’m already melting! It makes me miss the snow on Mt Fuji in winter!

C’mon Takumi! Focus! You can push through it! You’re here for a reason! You gotta go see  _ Aniki _ while you have the chance! 

Luggage in hand, I marched right out of Honolulu International Airport and into the ungodly humid sun, ready to hail a cab… before I realized I didn’t have any dollars. Only yen. So, I marched right back into the airport, exchanged my yen for dollars. The exchange rate is pitiful! I came here with ¥10,000 and I only got $92 back. I mean come on! I should’ve at least gotten $8,000 back for it! I complained to the attendant that exchanged my currency, but she didn’t seem to understand or care about what I was saying. 

They should! I’m Takumi Aozora! Diver extraordinaire! Japan’s newest diver! No! The best diver in the entire world! 

With the correct money in hand, now I could hail that cab. I stood on the sidewalk outside the baggage claim, on the arrivals drive of the airport’s terminal road. Cabs were lined up, waiting for passengers to get out. Flights were coming in from all over the place, so I guess all those drivers were wanting to get as much of that cash as they could. I flagged one down, prepared to get in. The cab was a Chevy Cruze. It was the first time I’d seen an American branded car in a long time. They’re nowhere to be seen in Japan since they’re so big and unreliable. I’ll take my mom’s Toyota Yaris any day over the bucket of bolts made in the US. 

The cab driver rolled down the window. He was an older man, with a gruff grey beard, a pretty noticeable beer belly, and a general look about him that said he had seen some things. A lot of that probably came from the sake he was drinking. Do they drink sake in the US? He looked me up and down, and then looked confused, “Are your parents in there looking for their bag, kid?” he asked. 

“No, I’m traveling alone,” I said, in my best English. I hadn’t used English in a while, so I was a little rusty, but I was able to speak clearly enough. 

“Aren’t you a little young to be traveling alone?” he asked, again questioning my age. 

I bet my cheeks were bright red after he asked that question, “No! I’m ten years old!” I cried, puffing out my cheeks in frustration, “I can scuba dive on my own and keep the house clean and cook dinner all by myself!” 

“Woah I’m sorry, your highness!” he backed off, somewhat mocking me, “Hey as long as you’ve got the cash I can take ya, kid.” he popped the trunk, the back opening up for me to put my suitcase in. 

Smiling, I walked over and put the suitcase in the trunk and closed it. I hopped in the backseat, amazed by the massive amount of legroom in the back, and closed the door. 

“So, where are we going, Mr…?” the cab driver asked, not knowing what my name was.

“Aozora,” I introduced myself, “Takumi Aozora.” 

“Takumi then,” he smiled in the rearview mirror, “Where can I take you to on our beautiful island? Apologies up front, I can’t take you to the other islands in this car. It’s not a boat after all.” 

“Haha! That’s fine,” I laughed, “They haven’t built the bridges yet.” In Japan, there were bridges that connected all of the islands together. A lot of them actually. The only island that didn’t have a bridge connecting it was Hokkaido, and even then there was still a tunnel connecting it to the rest of the country. Worrying about what island you were on and how you’re going to get there in Japan just isn’t a thing. But I guess Hawaii hasn’t caught up on that yet. Probably only a matter of time. 

“Wouldn’t that be something,” the cabbie grinned, “Now, in all seriousness, where would you like to go?” 

“Ka’aukai Dive and Surf, near Pearl Harbor.” I declared. 

“Well that’s a pretty specific location,” he said, “but I can get there.” He put the car in drive and pulled out of his spot, making his way down the road towards the airport exit and the highway. “Any reason you wanna go there, if I may?” 

“My cousin runs that shop.” I told him, “I’m gonna be staying with him for the week.” 

“Ah I see, that’s why you’re here alone. And what’s happening in Japan right now? A little schoolboy like you normally wouldn’t be able to make this kind of trip on a Sunday morning, after all.” 

“It's Golden Week in Japan! School’s out for the whole week, and I convinced my parents to let me fly to Hawaii on my own to see my cousin!” 

“Aww, well ain’t that sweet of ‘em?” he looked back at me, a glow in his eyes that wasn’t there before as he turned onto the highway and towards my destination. 

Yes, it is highly irregular for me to be here on a day like this, but I really really really wanted to see Kai! And I’ve got a wicked surprise for him when I do see him. In the meantime, I looked out the window, watching the cars go by. From where I was sitting, I could just barely make out Pearl Harbor on the other side of a row of houses and streets. The US Navy base was something of a double-edged sword in my heart. On one hand, seeing it brought back memories of being with Kai, and every time I saw it, I knew I was close to him. On the other hand, Japan’s history with the base is complicated as well, and there’s this little bit of shame I feel whenever I see it. I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m only ten after all. I don’t really do a lot of these “deep feelings” things. 

Wow, Americans drive fast! I felt like I had to hold onto something we were driving so fast. We were on the interstate, zooming past the buildings and the other cars. I’ve been on the Shinkansen more times than I can count, and even that didn’t feel fast compared to this, and that’s one of the fastest trains in the world! Freeways weren’t nearly this fast in Japan, not to mention most cars weren’t this fast in Japan! How do they do this?! I’m scared for my life in this steel death trap and he’s lighting a cigarette and driving with one hand!

Wow.

After what felt like a lap around Fuji Speedway, we finally got off the highway and onto some slower streets. Having calmed down from that experience, I looked out the window and started recognizing the roads and houses I was seeing. We were getting close. Looking ahead, my eyes widened when I caught sight of the weathered dive shop up ahead. The cabbie parked the car, unlocking the doors to let me out. 

“Here we are!” he said, “Ka’aukai Dive and Surf!” 

“Finally! It’s been ages since I’ve been here!” I gasped. The building was just how I remembered it. There was a light on inside, and I could make out a familiar figure inside at the front desk! I couldn’t wait to get in there. 

“No problem.” he smiled, “Now just hand me the fare and you can head out.” 

“Right!” I handed him the far, along with a small tip for him, and jumped out of the car. He popped the trunk, allowing me to grab my luggage. Taking it, I walked around to the driver’s seat to give him my thanks. 

“Arigato, cabbie-san,” I said, bowing to him out of respect.

“Douitashimashite,” he replied, waving back. I looked up, surprised to hear him speaking my language. With that, he drove off, leaving me alone with the dive shop. I turned and headed up towards the door.

I didn’t go in right away. I couldn’t. Something about the building kept me from going inside as soon as possible. I had to soak in just how different the building was; just how familiar it was to me. It had been almost an entire year since I last stepped foot here, and I didn’t know what to think of it. I had to make sure it was the right place. Standing away from the door, I peeked inside through the front windows, hiding behind one of the mannequins while I spied on who was inside. 

“Ka’aukai Dive and Surf! Kai speaking!” 

My heart skipped a beat. I recognized that voice. I peered in closer, and sure enough, I saw him standing there. My idol. My best friend. My  _ Aniki _ . He was standing at the checkout stand, talking on the phone with a customer on the other side. I could see him smiling as he talked a customer into a dive lesson. 

“Yes, we offer a discover scuba option. Just $120 and you get an hour of guided pool time. We’ll be with you the whole time, showing you the ropes!” Kai told the customer on the phone, “Uh-huh… our pool times are usually on Mondays and Wednesdays…. Alright, that sounds great! Just come on down to the shop whenever you can and we’ll get everything squared away! Alright, you have a great day, sir! Bye!” He hung up the phone, pumping his fists, confident he scored another diver. I admire that about him. He seemed to be able to convince anyone to try out scuba diving, even the most hardcore detractors, and all of them ended up becoming great divers like him! 

Okay, he’s stepping away from the phone. He’s heading towards the back of the store. Alright. This is my chance to surprise him! Sneakily, I made my way in, opening the door as quietly as possible… and… 

**DING DONG!**

I forgot about the jingle bells hanging from the door handle to let them know when a customer had walked in. Panicking, I ducked behind one of the shelves before the bells made too much noise, keeping myself hidden from him. Kai swung around, looking at where I was just a second ago, “Who’s there?” he called out, “I know you’re here!” 

Fufufu… I’m such a good hider! He’ll never find me. I crawled around, behind the wetsuits and the shelves, keeping a close eye on my Aniki as he fruitlessly looked around for me. He first made his way to the door, opening it to see if I had snuck out instead of coming in. But I don’t get cold feet, so I don’t know why he would look out there. After that, he looked at the shelves closest to the door, to no avail. I was already halfway down the store. I jumped out of the wetsuits and into one of the aisles, the wetsuits not making much noise. 

But Kai was alert. He didn’t miss a beat. He headed straight for where the suits had shuffled, prompting me to scurry away. I wanted to get behind him, and I wasn’t about to get caught like that. He pulled back the suits, shouting “AHA!” expecting to see someone there. To his dismay, there was no one, as I was long gone. But I wasn’t going to stay hidden for long. I had him in my sights. His neoprene wetsuited back was turned to me, showing me the orange stripe running down it. He wasn’t wearing anything else overtop of it. Typical of him. Always prepared for a dive. It was a nostalgic sight, but I wasn’t about to get lost in happy memories just yet. I had to make my move while my window was open. In his blind spot, I silently pounced on him, wrapping my arms around his chubby body, and burying my cute face into his neoprene back. He jumped as I captured him, but he didn’t say tense for long. 

“ _ Aniki _ !” I chirped, my voice muffled by his body, “I missed you so much!” 

“Hah! Takkun!” he cried, turning around and hugging me as well, “You made it!” 

“Yeah! I’m so happy! Golden Week has finally come to Japan!” I smiled, “I was able to convince my parents to let me travel all the way to Hawaii on my own!” 

“Wow! That’s awesome!” Kai giggled, “Man it’s been so long since we saw each other last. When was that? Last year in August? Man, I can’t believe it’s been so long since then!” 

“I know! It’s incredible! And guess what, Aniki!” 

“What?” Kai looked curious, as always. Giddy, I pulled out my wallet, shuffling my I.D. cards around before finally pulling out the one I wanted. It was laminated, like all the others, in Japanese text, like all the others, and with my photo, like all the others. What made it different was the red flag nestled with the  _ Hinomaru  _ (or  _ Nissh _ _ ōki  _ if you prefer) . Its white diagonal stripe across its field, waving in the wind alongside its national counterpart, was immediately identifiable to Aniki. 

“No way!” Kai screamed, “YOU GOT CERTIFIED?!” 

“Yep! I turned ten a few months ago!” I replied, beaming, “I passed the test with flying colors, and I’ve been diving as much as I can back in Japan! I’m a full-fledged scuba diver now, just like you,  _ Aniki _ !” 

“That’s awesome news!” he jumped up and down, too excited to sit still. I couldn’t still either and jumped along with him, shaking the floorboards underneath us. I had been waiting for months to tell him that fact, and he reacted just like I thought he would. “You have to tell me about all the places you’ve been diving in Japan! I wanna see them all for myself!” 

“Haha! I hope so!” 

“Now we gotta get you fitted for a wetsuit!” He took my hand and pulled me away towards the back room. “Stay here. I gotta get a measuring tape for you. I’ll be right back!” He disappeared into the back of the store, hastily looking through their storeroom for a measuring tape to get my measurements. I’m sure that tape would be in inches, but I didn’t really care that much. I was just eager to get my own wetsuit from my Aniki! 

“I found it!” he cried, rushing back in, and immediately wrapping it around me, “Now hold still so I can get an accurate measure of you.” He took the tape and twirled it around my body, getting a measurement for my waist, chest, arms, and legs. Just about every part of my body was quantified and recorded as data written on a pad of paper on a clipboard for him to use to select a wetsuit for me. He even wrapped it around my head, though I don’t really know why. 

“I don’t want a hood, Kai,” I said, actually saying his name, just to show that I really didn’t want it. 

“I know, I know. This isn’t for your wetsuit, at least not yet.” Kai winked, “This is for the future. In any event, I’ve got all my measurements, so let’s find you a suit!” His cryptic words confused me, but as long as I wasn't getting a hood right now, that’s fine with me.

“Alright!” I leaped, following him down the Wetsuit Lane. I brushed my hands against every wetsuit we passed by, feeling the neoprene and relishing each sensation. 

“Your favorite color is aka, right Takkun?” he said, using the Japanese word for red.

“Hai!” I responded, likewise in Japanese, “Red is my favorite color, Aniki.” 

“Great! I think I’ve got the perfect suit for you then!” He reached up and pulled down a neoprene suit from one of the top racks and held it up to me. It was mostly red, with only a tiny bit of black as an accent, “Hmm… no that won’t do.” 

“What’s the matter with that one?” I asked. 

“Too much red and it’ll be really loose on you.” Kai informed me, “You’ll end up with these big bulges around your ankles when you get out of the water if you wear this suit. Trust me I’ve seen it happen with a couple of loaner wetsuits for trainees. It’s kind of funny but you really don’t want that to be the case.” 

“Oh okay then,” I said, understanding completely. He put it back on the rack and reached down and pulled one from closer to the middle down, holding it up to me. This one had less red in it, but also with some blue as well. We were just missing the white and I would’ve been wearing an American flag! Or a French flag… or a British flag… or a Russian y’ know what there’s a lot of flags with red, white, and blue on it. World: you need to fix that.

“Hmm… nope definitely not that.” Kai yelped, “Too small and too garish! You’d look like those militaristic nutters that try to break into Pearl Harbor.” He shook his head, putting it back on. 

Finally, he found the one, and I could tell just by looking at it as he pulled it down from its home. It was red and black, just like I had hoped. Full body, with a zipper running down the back of it, just like my rental wetsuits back home. The red curved around my arms, running from my shoulders to my wrists, and my legs were likewise wrapped in that same hue. He held it up to me to check and see if it actually would fit. 

“Hmm…” he said, squinting slightly as he looked at me and the suit together, “I think that’s gonna work! It might be a little loose, but we won’t know until you put it on.” 

“Right!” I smiled, eager to try it on. 

**DING DONG!**

The front door opened again, and the bells signaled a new customer coming in. Kuso! Just as I was about to go and try on my new suit! It didn’t help that  _ Aniki  _ turned around and greeted him, with a giant smile on his face. 

“Hey, Gabe!” Kai waved, “How’re you doing?” 

“Oh nothing much,” the new guy replied, walking up to meet us, “Just got back from an expo at the base. Dad was giving a presentation, and there were some booths open advertising career opportunities. I had to check out the pilot booth and the diving program booth of course.” 

“Nice,” Kai smiled, “Wish I could’ve been there.” 

“It was actually really boring.” Gabe giggled, “You’d have been complaining the whole time!” The two burst into laughter, clearly very friendly towards each other. 

I spent a few moments examining this new person, trying to get a feel for who he was based on his appearance and what he had said so far. He appeared to be Latino… or is it Hispanic? I can’t figure out which one of those terms is the right one. He has a pretty husky build much like  _ Aniki _ , though he was more muscular than Kai. He sported a short haircut, though not like  _ Aniki’s _ total buzz cut. His was a more military-style, made sense since, as he just said, his father is in the navy. What else? Oh, I could see a wetsuit under his clothes. It wasn’t out and proud like  _ Aniki  _ was with his, instead of hiding it under his street clothes. But I could see it there, the unmistakable shine and texture of neoprene poking out from underneath his jacket. Given how friendly he was to  _ Aniki _ , I could guess they were dive buddies. 

What really shook me though about this new guy was how casual _ Aniki  _ was being with him. Of course, he’s always very casual with everyone, but with Gabe, it was on a whole new level. What’s more, they even kissed each other! Full-blown kiss, right on the lips! Wait a minute, now I realize! This is Gabe.  _ The  _ Gabe. The guy that _ Aniki  _ was talking about over Discord! This is his new boyfriend! 

OH MY GOD, WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?! 

“Oh, Gabe! I’ve got someone you totally have to meet.” Kai said, stepping aside to introduce me to him, “This is Takumi or Takkun as I like to call him, my cousin from Japan.” 

“Pleased to meet you, Takkun.” Gabe smiled, extending his hand. I shook it, but not without some hesitation. He wasn’t earning my trust so soon. I wasn’t about to let him march right over me, no sir! Still, I should be polite, for  _ Aniki’s  _ sake.

“Nice to meet you too, Gabe.” I said, “ _ Aniki _ has told me a lot about you.” 

“Aniki?” Gabe asked, confused, looking at Kai for answers. 

“That’s what he likes to call me,” Kai replied, “It means ‘older brother’ in Japanese.” 

“Oh right, I forgot about that.” Gabe grinned, “So you two are pretty close then, right?” 

“Yep! I taught Takkun everything he knows about scuba diving! I kind of bent the rules a little bit and let him go scuba diving before he was eligible for certification, but no harm no foul!” 

“Kai...” Gabe gave him a glare like he did something wrong. I remember  _ Aniki  _ telling me that he had a thing for the rules. I’m sure he didn’t appreciate me getting a taste for scuba diving two years before I was even allowed to do it. 

“And now that he’s ten and certified we don’t have to worry about that anymore!” Kai said, brushing off Gabe’s glare, before having an epiphany, “Oh I know the perfect way to celebrate! We should let him come with us on our dive today!” 

“Wait, really?” I asked, surprised, “You two are going on a dive today?!” 

“Yep! That’s what Gabe is here for,” Kai nodded, “We were going to pick out our gear and head out on the boat as soon as he got here from the base. But now that you’re here, I think we’ll have to change our plans.” 

“Alright!” The news was music to my ears. More than anything, I had wanted to go diving with  _ Aniki _ as much as possible during my week in Hawaii, and now, only an hour or so after I got off the plane, it was actually happening! I can’t believe it! 

Oh, and I guess diving with Gabe will be cool too. I get to see how he operates, and see what kinds of moves he was making on my  _ Aniki _ . I know that he wants to spend more time with him, and I can’t have that. He won’t get away with stealing him away from me! I earned this time with him, Gabe! Do you hear me?! 

“So, what gear are we doing for this, Kai?” Gabe asked, “I vote for using standard regulators. I’ve been reading up on scuba theory and scuba diving safety and those are probably the safest devices to use when doing any kind of scuba diving.” 

“Yeah they are, but they’re also lame!” Kai complained, “Plus, we’re both diving pros by now. We know what we’re doing and how to be safe. So, let’s use some gear that isn’t as safe to use.” Just then, he had another great idea, as always, “I know! Let’s let Takkun pick out the gear for today!” 

Someone pinch me. I must be dreaming! “Really? I get to pick out the gear?” I beamed. 

“Yeah, why not?” Kai smiled, “You came all the way from Japan to see us, so it’s only fair that you get to pick out what we use during our dive today. Don’t you agree, Gabe?” 

“Yeah.” he nodded, “The new guy should always get to pick, I say.” 

“Well he’s not really the new guy here,” Kai corrected him, and turned to me, “but either way, what would you like to go diving with, Takkun?” 

The choice was daunting. I was surrounded by all kinds of amazing gear, it was so hard to pick. Standard regulators like Gabe had suggested. Full face masks of all kinds, like the AGA mask that I coveted, even some old vintage stuff on display that I’m sure didn’t work anymore but I still wanted to try out. It was all so much to consider. However, something was missing from the picture. A gear that  _ Aniki  _ talked about often in our chats. It was the weirdest gear he had in the shop, with its bubble helmet and strap harness. He had fawned over it, but it was nowhere to be seen in the shop. I had to get my hands on it! 

“What about LAMA gear?” I suggested, “Do we have any of those we could use?” 

“LAMA gear?” Kai wondered, “Oh we’ve got tons of that around! I think we’ve got something like five or six rigs that we can play with. They’re all in back though. We don’t really sell it but we have it to use.” 

“Alright! Let’s use LAMA gear!” I concluded, beaming.  _ Aniki  _ seemed pretty happy with my choice. I knew he was a bit of a fanatic when it came to this gear, so he was more than willing to let me try it out for the first time. I turned to Gabe, expecting more or less the same enthusiasm, but his face told me otherwise. 

“LAMA gear? Hmm…” he said, looking worried, “Are you sure he should be using that gear, Kai? I mean it’s so cumbersome and hard to use, and he only just got certified as a diver.” The nerve of this guy! I’m the best diver in Japan! How dare he criticize my abilities underwater. I’m up for the task. So what if I’ve never used it? I’m a quick study. How hard can it really be to use something like this? 

“I mean he has gone through all of the training and certification to be able to be a scuba diver.” Kai noted, “He’s had extensive training and hours of pool time and open water time. You, on the other hand, haven't had that. You also had your very first scuba dive in open water with LAMA gear, so there’s no reason Takkun wouldn’t do well too.” Ha! Checkmate!

“Yeah because you rushed it, Kai,” Gabe countered, “Who was the one that basically rammed me through the certification process with no pool time, no book studying, no coursework, no prior training with simpler gear, or anything before I was allowed to use such complicated gear and in open water at that?” He crossed his arms with his elbows in the palms of his hands, “I’m still having visions about the authorities coming and arresting me for illegally scuba diving.” Wow, what a worrywart. I’ve gone diving dozens of times uncertified and nothing happened. Grow up, man.

“That’s neither here nor there.” Kai brushed it off, not caring one bit about the criticism, “What’s important now is getting in the water! C’mon, let’s go get our gear and head for the boat.” 

“Hai!” I replied, with a salute. I marched behind him in lockstep, with Gabe following close behind me as we made our way to the back of the store to choose our gear for the dive. 

Hmph! The boyfriend isn’t shoulder-to-shoulder with his soulmate. I wonder if there’s some trouble in paradise going on between them. When I’m through, Gabe will have wished he never set eyes on Kai. Just you wait, mister high and mighty navy brat! I’ll have my  _ Aniki  _ all to myself! 

_ FUFUFUFUFUFUFU!! _

* * *

Finally! Out on the water with _ Aniki  _ at last! 

We cut through the Pacific wash with ease, our boat skimming over the crystal clear waters of the islands, the three of us eager to make it to our destination. I didn’t know where we were going. Gabe and  _ Aniki  _ had picked out the location long before I had even touched down at the airport. You could say I was just along for the ride, but I’d like to think I was their guest of honor, and they were surprising me with a fantastic new diving location hidden away off the coast. I didn’t know where we were going at all. I recognized a few of the diving sites that we had gone to in the past, usually always private and secluded areas where there was little chance of encountering others since I was underaged and unlicensed. But I couldn’t recognize where we were. I sat there, in only my brand new red and black wetsuit that  _ Aniki  _ had given me, watching the scenery go by, and watching Kai and Gabe, in their own wetsuits (orange and black for  _ Aniki  _ and blue and black for Gabe), navigate. 

“Where are we going,  _ Aniki _ ?” I asked, “we’ve been sailing for a while now.” 

“It’s a special place,” Kai turned back to face me and winked, “Gabe and I scouted this area out a few weeks ago and we’ve been chomping at the bit to dive here for a while now. It’s gonna be a real treat for you, Takkun!” 

“Alright!” I cheered, nearly jumping out of my seat. Though, if I did, I probably would’ve been knocked overboard.  _ Aniki _ was relentless behind the wheel of the ship. He had the throttle to the floor at all times, literally hopping over the waves that got in our way. I would have certainly been thrown off. 

Probably should’ve put my gear on before we set sail. 

“We’re coming up on it, Kai,” Gabe said, checking the GPS mounted to the dashboard. He and Kai were sitting in the captain’s chairs, with him in the passenger seat, and Kai at the helm. I envied him and loathed him for taking my seat like that. 

“Alright, we’ll set anchor here, then,” Kai shut off the engine, got up and headed towards the back of the boat, where I was, and pulled out the anchor. I watched him closely as he lifted the anchor out of the back compartment and threw it into the water, leading it down until it hit the seafloor below. He turned to me when it was down and winked, sending my heart aflutter. “Let’s suit up!” he ordered, sending the three of us into a flurry to get our gear on.

I was the first to get my gear situated. I grabbed my gear bag and started assembling everything. There was a lot that I couldn’t check that I could with standard gear. For example, the harness of a standard regulator pack, and most any scuba gear in use today, utilizes a BCD, or buoyancy control device, which will inflate or deflate with the press of a button using air from the tank. LAMA gear doesn’t have a BCD on its harness. In fact, its harness is only a couple of straps, one around the torso, and another strap that connects the LAMA gear rig to the torso wrap. So, it was a lot less work to get ready, but I couldn’t help but feel that there were safety steps we were missing. 

Hey, if it’s  _ Aniki’s  _ favorite gear, then it must be pretty safe to use. 

I started with my weight belt, getting that secured around my waist with the proper amount of weight to keep me submerged. I knew that there were some weights on my LAMA gear as well that might help, but I think those were more for keeping the gear on my body. All that air in that bubble helmet probably has a ton of lift, so it’s important to keep it down. So, I put the weights on there as if the LAMA gear wasn’t there. After that, I put on the tight diving gloves that matched my wetsuit. It’s important to wear diving gloves, especially when diving in natural environments. You never know what you could be putting your hands-on, so it’s a teeny bit safer to wear gloves. 

And just like that, my hands were a rich maroon! 

With all that out of the way, I reached down and started work on the LAMA gear rig sans bubble helmet. I didn’t have the tank on or tested yet, so I didn’t want to have the helmet on or I’d probably suffocate. Can’t have that. I grabbed one of the silver air tanks, and fit it in place around the back of the LAMA rig. There was some padding between the tank and where my back would be. Some creature comforts I guess. Anyways, a single wide strap held the tank in place. I tightened it as much as I could, holding it upside down. I’ve never put a tank in like this, but I guess that’s how it works. I then attached the hose to the valve, making sure it was secure and that air was flowing through it. I could hear it hiss as I sealed it, the sign I needed. 

With the tank belted in, I took the whole rig and, with all my strength, lifted it over and stuck my head through, resting the gear on my shoulders. I reached down and coupled the harness straps together using the loop, and tightened it around my torso. The gear wasn’t going anywhere after that. I looked myself over, though it was hard to see my body with the large metal ring and plastic cladding around my neck. All in all, I was quite proud of myself. My first time assembling LAMA gear, and as far as I could tell, I did it perfectly. 

At least I did better than Gabe did.

“Hey, Kai,” Gabe asked, struggling to put the gear on, “A little help here?” He couldn’t seem to get the gear up over his head, or even get his head through it. Pathetic. He’s been using this gear for how much longer than me, and he still can’t get it assembled properly? 

“Hehe… sure, Gabe.” Kai giggled, reaching up and helping him put it on, “I don’t know why you struggle so much with this.” 

“Maybe it’s because he sucks at scuba diving!” I blurted out, before slapping my hands over my mouth, not realizing I had said that out loud.  _ Aniki  _ looked my way with  _ that  _ look. Y’know the kind. The kind that tells you right away that you screwed up. Parents had perfected it, so I didn’t like that  _ Aniki  _ was now giving me that same look. 

“Takkun!” he snapped, “Don’t say that! Gabe’s a fantastic diver!” 

“No, let him say it,” Gabe growled, “It’s not like the little shit doesn’t have a big ego!” 

“Excuse me?!” I raged, “You take that back right now, you two-bit diver!” 

“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true!” Gabe snarled, just as Kai finished putting his gear on his shoulders. He wasn’t having any of this, though. 

“Both of you! Stop it right now!” Kai barked, “Now can we all just get along and spend some time on the reef as we planned?” 

“Hmph! Fine!” I scoffed, picking up my flippers and my bubble helmet and heading for the edge of the boat. I didn’t want anything to do with that… that guy! I knew I couldn’t trust him. He’s just some navy brat riding his daddy’s coattails is all. He’s nothing! I’m the best diver in Japan! I’ll show him who’s boss!

“Who does he think he is?!” I could hear Gabe ask  _ Aniki.  _ As if he didn’t already know who I was. 

“Gabe, just drop it, please.” Kai pleaded, “He’s only here for a week, and I wanted to show him all I could. Can we please not start on a sour note? For me?” I turned around, slightly curious about their conversation, not that I cared what Gabe was saying or anything. My heart sank though when I saw  _ Aniki _ lean over and KISS HIM!! Legit kissed him! Right on the lips! I don’t even know how they did it wearing those LAMA rigs around their necks, but I still felt sick seeing it! Who. Does. He. Think. He. Is. Kissing.  _ My. Aniki?!  _

That’s it! This. Means. WAR!!! 

“Ok then,” Gabe said, smiling, “I’ll simmer down.” With that… moment out of the way, they took their own flippers and helmets and joined me on the back of the boat. 

They sat down on either side of me and started putting their flippers on. We each had closed heeled, or tropical, flippers, which didn’t require wearing booties as open heeled flippers did. Personally, I preferred open heeled flippers, but Kai insisted on using these for this dive and for future dives. I don’t really see what he likes about them, but I wasn’t about to go against him. They’re a little hard to get on, as the back heel is pretty hard, but once you did get them on, they were like a giant clown shoe. Hard to walk in. Once we had our flippers on, we stood up on the back of the boat and clicked our helmets on. They went on like an astronaut’s helmet. You have to slot the glass dome into a circular metal groove on the top of the LAMA gear and turn it until it locked into place, creating a mechanical, secure, airtight and watertight seal. Air started blowing in from the tank as soon as we took a breath with the helmet on, and our exhalation was expelled shortly thereafter through the exhaust on the back of the rig. 

I felt like a cross between a scuba diver and an astronaut.  _ Sugoi! _

“Ready, everyone?” Kai called through the radio. We were able to communicate via radios integrated into the gear. They weren’t much more than walkie talkies, but they were a godsend compared to the hand signals you have to use with standard regulators. 

“Ready,  _ Aniki! _ ” I replied. 

“Ready!” Gabe replied, much to my dismay. I wanted him to stay behind, but I guess that would be the last straw for  _ Aniki  _ if I asked him to not come with us. 

“Alright! Let’s dive!” Kai cheered, stepping off of the edge of the boat and jumping into the water. He broke through the surface with a giant splash. The water reached so high, it hit my helmet! 

Gabe followed right after him, jumping in just behind  _ Aniki’s  _ splash. He disappeared right after he did, unfortunately joining us on the dive. Then it was my turn. I have to be honest, I was really nervous about this. First time diving with new gear, first time diving with a new buddy (even though I didn’t want him to be my buddy), and the first time diving with  _ Aniki  _ after I was licensed. The pressure was on. I had to do well. Normally, scuba diving was something that relaxed me, but today was different. It was odd. I had to get myself feeling better. I shook my head, trying to get those negative thoughts out, and, without a moment to lose, jumped in the water. Gabe and  _ Aniki  _ had long since gone and cleared the area for me. I splashed down, entering the underwater Hawaiian world. 

“ _ Sugoi… _ it’s just like I remember it!” I gasped, seeing the crystal clear waters of Hawaii for the first time in a year, “It’s gorgeous,  _ Aniki _ !” 

Something I forgot about Hawaii is that there’s color everywhere. Everywhere you turn, there’s something vibrant and colorful and tropical. Even the buildings in Honolulu were tropical looking and full of life. That was true underwater as well. To say there was an abundance of life would be an understatement. There are fish and coral EVERYWHERE! There are all kinds of different fish swimming around the maze of coral reefs around us. They’re even coming up and swimming between our legs and getting really close to our helmets. It’s like they’re used to seeing scuba divers. I’ve never seen that before. My eyes were wide and my jaw was at the base of the helmet. It was so beautiful. 

“Hehe… I see you’re just as amazed as you were the first time you came here, Takkun.” Kai chuckled over the radio. I turned and saw the two of them hiding out under the boat, waiting for me to join them, “How’s it feel to be back in the water?” 

“It feels great!” I yelped, swimming over to meet them, minding the schools of fish as I swam. I noticed how different it was to swim with LAMA gear as I made my way over. My body was so top-heavy due to all that weight holding the bubble down, as well as all the air in the helmet. I kind of had to swim upright slightly to get by, “It’s a little difficult to swim with LAMA gear on though.” I admitted. 

“Bah! You’ll manage!” Kai scoffed, as usual, “Gabe managed to use it on his very first dive with no problems! You’ve got more experience than he does. You’ll make it work!” I chuckled a little bit, but in my head, I was rolling my eyes. Why does he have to bring up Gabe so much? Why can’t he talk about me more? 

“We should get rolling, Kai.” Gabe said, “We’ve got a lot to see on the reef!” 

“Right, and we have a little surprise for you,” Kai added. I like surprises, so I perked up right away, not that I was depressed in any way. 

“Alright!” I grinned, “Let’s go!” with that, the three of us headed out into the reef, with  _ Aniki  _ leading the way, and Gabe close behind. I was a little miffed that Gabe was so close to him. I should be the one holding Kai’s hand. 

I should be the only one. 

Nevertheless, the dive was off to a good start. It was a quiet and peaceful swim through the reef, with not much to do but see the wildlife and admire, something the three of us were perfectly happy doing. I kept my breathing regulated like I was still swimming with a standard mouthpiece, even though I had much less restrictive air. The whole reef was eye candy. I ran my hand against some of the hard corals, scaring away some of the fish. I wanted to touch one of them, but they kept swimming away. I knew I shouldn’t disturb the wildlife, but I was just being a kid wanting to touch everything in the candy story I guess. Still, I was content just floating around. I just wish  _ Aniki  _ was closer to me than he was to Gabe. 

Speaking of  _ Aniki _ , he tried to lead us through the reef, but predictably, he lost his cool and started going berserk over the reef. He worshipped the underwater world, and it didn’t take long for him to go completely gaga. 

“Oh my god oh my god!” he cried, breaking off from us and racing towards a coral formation. We swam after him, but we had a hard time keeping up with him as he circled the pillar. Fish swarmed the pillar, floating in and out of its many crevices. He wanted to get in them, despite being way too big. I can relate. I’ve had these kinds of freak outs before, but unlike  _ Aniki _ , I didn’t have them every time I went diving. 

“Is this what he wanted to show us?” I asked.

“No this isn’t it. We’ll see it later on.” Gabe reassured me. 

“Ah alright then,” I said, a little disappointed. 

“I knew he would freak out like this.” Gabe sighed, shaking his head, “He does this every single time! He can’t just enjoy the reef peacefully, can he? He has to go all out.” 

“Tell me about it,” I agreed, probably the first time I did with Gabe, “He did this with me on my first dive with him. He spent more time freaking out about the dive spot and the wildlife than he did teaching me the fundamentals!” 

“Same!” Gabe cried, “He did the exact same thing with me! Only I was wearing LAMA gear for my first dive, so I had to hear him get all excited too.” 

“I honestly wish I could’ve been wearing LAMA gear for my first dive.” I admitted, “I’m pretty jealous he let you do that for your first dive.” I wasn’t just jealous, I was enraged! How dare he get to use this gear before me! 

“Honestly, it’s not as glamorous as you think.” Gabe said, “You have no idea how hard it was to swim with this thing on with absolutely no experience. And in open water too! I would’ve much rather been using a standard mouthpiece and mask instead.” 

“I guess that makes one of us,” I replied, smirking. I guess he was alright, having talked to him briefly. At least we both get how crazy  _ Aniki  _ can be. However, our conversation was cut short when  _ Aniki  _ came swimming back towards us. 

“You’ve gotta see this thing, Gabe!” he said, grabbing hold of Gabe’s arm and dragging him towards the reef. He took him throughout the reef and I could see and hear him pointing out several species of fish that were swimming around, as well as all the different corals they saw together. 

But that was the thing. It was with him.  _ Aniki  _ grabbed  _ Gabe’s  _ hand, not mine. He changed it. Why? Why is he doing this? Why am I stuck watching from the sidelines? What’s going on? I’m floating here off the reef, watching him drag Gabe by the arm, showing him all the things and explaining all the things that he used to tell me. I could hear him talking all about it on the radio, and it made me sick to my stomach that I was down there and they were up there. Sure, I probably could have swum up there to join them, but would they even notice me? 

_ Would they even notice me?!  _ That hit me like a truck. I felt like a nobody. In front of my own  _ Aniki _ . I flew all the way here from Japan, hoping to spend a long time with just my  _ Aniki _ , 

Y’know what? Screw them! I came all this way and you’re just going to ignore me like this? Cast me aside for this… this… new guy?! No! I’m not going to take it. I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore! I’ll go and enjoy myself. Let them have the reef all to themselves if they want. I’ll go do something on my own if they don’t wanna pay attention to me!

So I did just that. Behind their backs and in their shadows, I swam off on my own, away from their reef, looking for my own adventure. I broke the first rule of scuba diving: never go off on your own. But y’ know what, screw that rule! I can take it on my own! I’m the best scuba diver that Japan, no, the world, has ever seen! I swam away, exploring the reef at my leisure. I kept myself quiet so that they wouldn’t hear me. Part of me wished that I had a gag on. It’d make it easier to keep quiet. But I could still hear them. All their giggling and hemming and hawing about the stuff they were seeing. I could barely stand it. I was nearly about to turn off the radio. 

Despite the frustration, I managed to salvage what was left of my diving trip after they ruined it. I got to experience more of the reef than I thought I could. Being so small, I squeezed into places that they definitely couldn't and got a closer look at things that they couldn’t see, like the inside of a coral formation. I peered inside one such cave and found a family of fish making a cozy home for themselves inside. I waved at them, and I could’ve sworn they winked at me in response. Aww, how cute! I also found myself a starfish on the ground. It was strange though. It was yellow and very plump. It almost looked like a Luma. Those little star-shaped characters from _ Super Mario Galaxy _ . I picked it up, examining it and checking it out. It didn’t move or react when I touched it, staying perfectly still. It looked like it had been well fed, just all three of us had been (we weren’t the slimmest divers in the world, I’ll tell you that much, but I’m working on losing weight I swear). I picked him up, smiling from ear to ear as I rubbed his skin, feeling its rough texture through my gloves. 

I don’t know why, but I had this creeping suspicion that I was being watched right about now. I looked around me, but I couldn’t see _Aniki_ or Gabe for miles. I heard them loud and clear thanks to the radio, but they were still at the other part of the reef. I felt a shiver running up my spine, but also a feeling of reassurance, as if it was someone familiar, and warm. But there wasn’t anyone there. Guess I was just imagining things. 

I kept swimming and swimming, getting further and further away from the boat and from those two  _ baka _ who ignored me. It felt like I had been swimming for five minutes on my own, and nothing bad had happened yet. In fact, it was liberating! I didn’t have to worry about anyone else but myself! I could see anything I wanted. I could do anything. I was free! Untethered to  _ Aniki _ ’s mania and Gabe’s coldheartedness. It was relaxing just drifting through the waves, alone, with my thoughts. Nothing much happened, and I was fine with that. 

That is until I came across the shipwreck!

There it was, just sitting there at the bottom of the reef, in shambles, covered in barnacles. But it was unmistakable, the shape of it. It was definitely the shipwreck of an old fishing boat from who knows how long ago. Its wood frame was splintered, with all sorts of things growing on it, and fish swimming in and out of the broken hull. I had to do everything I could to contain my excitement, or they would’ve found me. This is where a gag would’ve been helpful. Keeping myself contained, I swam into the wreck, giddy as a schoolboy to explore it all by myself.

I’ve only been to one other wreck back in Japan, and that was with a big group of newly minted divers. I was the youngest one in the group, and I got to see a lot of that ship that the others couldn’t because I’m so small. It was great exploring so much of that old battleship back then. Today was no different. I wasted no time looking at everything I could inside the old fishing boat. 

It was a small vessel. Her beam was no more than ten meters, and her overall length appeared to have been about three times that. It was hard to tell since there was a huge gash in the hull, she was nearly capsized, and was sagging on the coral reef. I could tell she was a fishing ship since there was an old rotted net resting on the corals around the ship. She must’ve dropped it when she went down. I went inside to look around, with most everything having decayed already. The ship’s wheel was covered in growth, but I could still make out its shape. Fish had made their way in long ago, and the ship had become part of the reef long ago. I felt like a graverobber somewhat, trespassing on the house of the dead, but I also wanted to see more. I was like Indiana Jones, discovering the Hovitos idol in the Peruvian jungle or escaping the Well of Souls through an ancient Egyptian crypt filled to the brim with mummies. The difference was I was underwater wearing modern scuba equipment, and there were no dead bodies to be found. Only an amazingly preserved wreck. 

That is until I found a dead body. 

He was laying there, near the ship’s wheel. I don’t know how or why I didn’t notice him at first, but he was chilling there, waiting for someone to come and find him. To relieve him of his duties. I guessed he was the captain, but I was too busy freaking out to really decide, and not in a good way. 

“HAH...HAH…” I started to hyperventilate, before letting out a blood-curdling scream at the top of my lungs, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I felt like I had to get away, but I was absolutely paralyzed by my fear, struck by the skeleton staring at me, 

“Takkun?! Is that you?!” Gabe and  _ Aniki  _ called on the radio, “What’s wrong? Where are you!?” 

“Th-Th-THERE’S A DEAD MAN HERE!” I stammered, “ _ T-T-T-TASUKETE! _ !” my heart was racing, and my breathing was short as I sank closer to the skeleton, unable to make a getaway. It was like a chain was wrapped around my legs, slowly bringing me down against my will. 

My fins touched down on the splintered boards of the ship. Ghost shackles grabbed hold of me, holding me in place, forcing me to stare at my worst nightmare: a sailor’s grave. I couldn’t bear looking at him, but I couldn’t look away. My eyes felt taped open, like a cartoon character trying to stay awake. I didn’t know if I was going to get out of this. My mind raced, and my breath was short. I didn’t know what to do, and the longer I looked, the shorter and quicker my breathing became. I was exhausting the air in my tank quickly, and I could feel my head grow lighter as I wasn’t getting enough air to my lungs. I was hyperventilating, terrified of the skeleton, believing I would soon become one with him. 

“ _ T-T-T-TASUKETE! _ ” I screamed, with what little breath I had left. It felt like I had been there for hours on end, even though it was only a few seconds. I was starting to fade away, my body swayed in the waves, my vision blinked, as my hyperventilation kept going, getting worse. 

“Takkun!” I heard someone call on the radio. My mind was too hazy to make out who it was, but I could feel their arms wrapping around me, holding me up. Their warmth comforted me, feeling their skin through both of our wetsuits. I thought it might’ve been  _ Aniki _ , with how friendly and comforting he was. Then, I looked down and saw blue. Blue and black arms, and blue flippers floating below my own.

“I’ve got you, Takkun.” Gabe said, reassuring me with soft words, and softer arms, “Don’t worry, I’m here for you. You’re fine with me, Takkun.” Tears were welling up in my eyes, as I turned my head as far as I could, seeing his face through our helmets. His soothing eyes were locked on me, trying to help me as much as he could. After all that I had said about him, both to his face and behind his back, he was still there. After all the things that he had said about me, he was still there to help me. It was amazing, really. 

“Gabe!! Ahahahahhh…” I broke down crying right in front of him, turning myself around in his arms and burying my helmet in his chest, “ _ Gomen'nasai!! _ ” 

“Ack!” he said as the glass dome hit his chest, but he recovered quickly, “It’s alright, Takkun. Really. Everything’s fine.” He looked down towards the skeleton, at least I assume as much, since the next thing he said was “Oh hello there, captain. You look like you’ve seen better days.” 

“What happened?” Kai said, rushing into the shipwreck, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Gabe replied, still holding onto me, “It looks like Takkun got a little spooked by the skeleton in here.” 

“Oh well, alright then, that’s not good.” Kai stated, “Is he alright?” 

“Yeah, he’s just a little spooked is all. He’s still quaking.” He was right. I was shivering like I was in a freezer. But I’m glad I had Gabe helping me. I couldn’t help but blush though.  _ Aniki  _ was looking at me, fearful and in Gabe’s arms, after we had just been arguing before we got in the sea. Now, here we were, embracing each other. I bet Gabe was blushing a bit too, but I couldn’t see him with all the tears in my eyes. 

“Phew… I’m glad.” Kai sighed, swimming over to me. Gabe let go of me and Kai took over, wrapping his big arms around me, and hugging me lovingly. 

“Oh Takkun,” he said, before putting me at arm’s length in front of him, “What were you thinking going off on your own like that?! You know how dangerous diving alone is!” 

“I-I’m sorry,  _ Aniki _ . I didn’t mean to… I was just so lonely!” I cried, “You were spending so much time with Gabe, I thought you had forgotten about me!” 

“What?” Kai said, confused, “What do you mean ‘forgot about you’? I’d never forget about you, Takkun. You’re my little brother.” 

“Then why were you spending so much time with Gabe?” I asked, “You and I. I thought we were a team, but then I see you spending so much time with him. Swimming, examining, kissing even! I just feel so left out, like you’ve forgotten what we had.” I sniffed, trying to keep the snot from running down my face, “That’s why I swam off on my own. Because I thought you didn’t need me anymore.” 

“Oh Takkun,” he said, hugging me tightly once again, “I wouldn’t forget about you even if I had amnesia. I love you. I love you so much and I’m so glad you could make it here.” He held me at arm’s length again, and looked me dead in the eye, “You shouldn’t think like that. You know better than that. You’re smart and you’re kind. Just because I have a boyfriend now doesn’t mean that you get any less of my love or time. It’s not a pie. Just because I love Gabe doesn’t mean I love you any less. Remember that.” At this point, my face was cherry red. I was such a fool! What was I thinking, being such a stubborn brat?  _ Aniki’s  _ right, I shouldn’t be so vindictive. I turned to Gabe, and saw that he too was blushing, having Kai name drop him like that, and pour out his heart for him, really did a number on him. 

“I-I’m sorry,  _ Aniki _ .” I weeped, “I’ll do better next time.” 

“I’m sure you will.” Kai said, “I’m your big brother, remember? I’ll always be here for you. In fact,” he extended his hand to Gabe, who took it and swam over to join him, “You should think of Gabe as your big brother as well. He’s not a stranger anymore, he’s a friend and he’s family, too. He’ll always be here for you too, right Gabe?”

“That’s right.” he nodded, “I’m here for you if you need me.” 

The tears in my eyes were drying up. I looked at the two of them, my brothers, and grew the biggest smile I could muster. He was right. I shouldn’t be thinking of him as an adversary, but an ally. He’s here. With me. Helping me as much as he can, just like  _ Aniki _ . Just like a big brother should! 

“Okay!” I nodded, turning to Gabe and giving him a big hug, “I’m sorry for being so mean to you, Big Brother!”

“Woah! That was… that was quick!” Gabe gasped, shocked that I called him that so soon, “I… I think that’s gonna take some getting used to.” 

“Haha! Believe me it was the same with me!” Kai laughed, “Takkun’s got a way with names. Once he’s given you one, it’s kind of stuck.” 

“Oh, so he’s just like you.” Gabe comments, “I remember telling you I don’t like being called Gabe, but you insisted.” 

“Oh that’s ancient history now, love!” Kai giggles, “Anyways, let’s salvage what’s left of this trip.” 

“Right!” both me and Gabe nodded, “C’mon, Big Brother,  _ Aniki _ ! Show me more of the reef!” 

“Alright then,” they replied, taking my hands and leading me through the rest of the reef together. We left the scary skeleton and the shipwreck behind us, and swam along. We also left behind the animosity that I felt towards Big Brother, which I was happy to shed and leave submerged in the deep blue sea. 

Not much else happened on the dive. We saw everything we could see in the reef, including several species of fish that you couldn’t see in Japan.  _ Aniki  _ had all their names memorized in Hawaiian, and Big Brother had a few of them named as well. They had both done their homework, as I expected of my big brothers. I didn’t stray from them anymore. Throughout the whole rest of the dive, I held on to their hands, or one of their hands in case someone wanted to go and explore something closer.  _ Aniki  _ would go nuts on a coral tower, and Gabe and I would stay back, holding hands and watching the mayhem together until  _ Aniki  _ dragged us along for the ride. 

Time was slowing down again, but this time in a good way. What felt like days under the waves was really just an hour or two. By the time we had to go up to the surface again, our tanks being low on air, it didn’t feel like it had been that long. We took hands and swam back to the ship’s anchor, where we each one by one climbed back aboard. Big Brother and  _ Aniki  _ went first, and reached down and hoisted me up on the ship. Water dripped off my LAMA gear’s dome helmet as I stepped out, falling to the water or the ship deck, leaving trails of water like syrup on a bowl of ice cream. 

“ _ Kuso! _ ” I gasped, stepping onto the boat once again. Even though time had dulled, my muscles still knew it had been an hour of strenuous swimming with this heavy gear on. They ached and creaked with each step and movement as I sat down and disassembled my gear, starting with my bubble helmet. I turned it in the opposite direction, unlatching the air and water lock. Fresh air rushed in, calming my nerves and healing me with its salt tinged scent. 

“So,” Kai asked, “What’d you think, Takkun?” 

“It was great!” I exclaimed, “That was the best dive I’ve ever been on!” 

“That’s awesome!” he winked, “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” 

“Yeah…” I said, weary. Gabe was sitting next to me on the rear bench seat, quickly disassembling. I should’ve been too, but I was just too weak to keep going. Without a second’s thought, I leaned my head on Gabe’s shoulder still fully geared save for my bubble helmet, and drifted asleep. I could feel him gasp and shudder as my head rested on his arm and shoulder. 

“Wow… he’s pretty tired.” I could hear him say as I was slipping into deep sleep. 

“Well he’s been through a lot today,” Kai reminded him, “He’s earned this rest.” 

“That’s an understatement. He went from hating me to calling me his big brother in less than an hour.” Gabe reminisced, “Y’know, I’ve always wondered what it is to have a baby brother.” 

“Really?” Kai asked. 

“Yeah, I’m an only child after all. But I guess I’ve never had someone this young to protect and to love.” He wrapped his arm around my sleeping figure, “And y’know what? I think he’s gonna be a great little brother. He’ll fill that hole in my life really well. How long will he be here again?” 

“All of this week,” Kai grinned, “You’ll have a lot of time to get to know each other.” 

“Yeah, we’ll have to do as much diving as we can.” Gabe chuckled, before adding “A little brother from Japan and a big loveable boyfriend here in Hawaii. Never thought I’d have either. Guess life is full of surprises, ain’t it?” 

“Haha! Yeah it is!” Kai laughed, before adding under his breath “Demo, Anta wa sono yōna koto o manabubekidatta ne, Kareshi-san?” I could barely hold in my laughter as I heard him speaking in Japanese, to which I could only imagine the look on Gabe’s face, unable to understand what he just said, as well as just the sheer amazement. He was already pretty amazed just from what he was saying. 

“Wh-What?! You can speak Japanese?!” Gabe gasped, “You never told me!” 

“You never asked!” Kai burst into laughter, unable to contain himself, “Hey you can speak Spanish. Why can’t I be bilingual too? I’ll let you try and figure out what I said on the way back in. If you can, well, then tonight will be  _ really  _ special.” I assumed he winked, and then turned on the boat, raising the anchor and revving the engine to life. 

“ _ Bueno, de verdad eres un sabelotodo, amor. _ ” Gabe muttered something under his breath, but now I couldn’t understand it. One, because I was drifting to sleep finally and two…

… It was in bloody Spanish. I guess two can play at that game. 


	5. Face Your Fears, Takkun!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Commission for AlCharlie
> 
> ===/===/===
> 
> After the previous dive, Takkun has gotten a fear of diving in shipwrecks, and must overcome it.
> 
> ===/===/===
> 
> Kipona Aloha © AlCharlie

It’s dark down here. Cold too. I feel myself sinking to the depths of the Pacific Ocean. My mind races. Am I dying? Am I drowning? No, I’m still breathing. I’m diving. I’m scuba diving, just like I always do. But my sight is limited. I can barely see anything around me, save for a small window in front of me. It’s not a normal mask, but a hard metal helmet with just the one window for me to see out of. I’m wearing some old diving gear, not LAMA gear like I would like to be wearing. My body is dry too, so I’m in some drysuit I bet. 

I’m wearing Ojiichan’s diving gear! Oh my god I’m really wearing Ojiichan’s gear! 

Regardless of what gear I’m using, I still can’t see anything around me. The surface is way too high for me to see it, and there’s hardly any light coming down this far as a result. The water is deep. My air and communication lines disappear into the endless indigo above me. I look down. I see myself sinking to a shipwreck. I examine it. World War II. Imperial Japanese Navy. I know this ship. I wouldn’t mistake those bow guns for anything else. 

It’s the  _ Yamato _ . 

My heart skips a beat. My adrenaline pumps through my veins. The  _ Yamato _ ! I’m actually diving the  _ Yamato _ ! Me! Takumi Aozora! I can’t believe it! 

However, my excitement turns to fear quickly. I feel something grabbing hold of my legs. It feels like a hand. Like a diver grabbing me to get my attention. I look around, but there’s no one near me. When I look down to my feet, the color drains from my face as I see a bony hand grab hold of my leg and pull me down much faster. Not one, but two. One for each leg it seems. Where are they coming from? As I get closer to the wreck, more grab me, pulling me to a watery grave. I panic, screaming for help, but no one comes to help or radios to me. I try to shake them off, but their grip is too great. I feel them grabbing higher up on my body. Bony fingers grab at my waist, one of them touches my groin, pulling me further down. 

The wreck comes closer. Are these the spirits of the Japanese naval officers that died in the sinking of the  _ Yamato _ ? Coming at me for revenge, or just ticked off that I disturbed their slumber? I don’t know what to make of it. They grab my shoulders, and then cloud my glass with their bones. I scream as I see how clean and white they are, like the fish had eaten all of the flesh and skin clean off. I thrash about, trying to get them off, but their grip is too strong. Before long, I’m covered, as my feet touch down on the  _ Yamato’s  _ deck, and crash through. My vision goes dark, as the hole closes above me. Water floods my diving gear, filling my lungs. I choke, closing my eyes, and….

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

* * *

I woke myself up with my own screaming. I thrashed and flailed in my bed, the sheets and blankets being thrown up into the air as I startled myself awake. My eyes wide with anxiety and my face covered in sweat. I can't believe I’m still alive. I patted myself just to make sure I wasn’t a ghost, but I could still feel my red and black wetsuit clinging tight to my body. 

“It… It was just a dream…” I panted, looking around. Aniki’s room was as familiar as ever. All the pictures he’s hung on the walls, most he took on his dives. Antique maps hung on the wall over the chest, which he kept a tight lock on. I smiled, watching the chest. Only me and Aniki knew what was inside, and we wanted to keep it that way. “It felt so real though.” I reached up and held my shoulder. I still feel the bony fingers grabbing hold of me. 

“Come on, Takumi!” I said, pressing my hands against my cheeks, “Pull yourself together. It’s just a dream. That’s all it is. You’ve got one more day here. Don’t let a bad dream ruin it.” 

I pulled my legs out of the covers, throwing them aside, and planted my feet down onto the hardwood floor of Aniki’s bedroom. My bones creaked as I stretched out, my body stiff from a good night’s sleep. I strolled over to the door, but kneel down to the chest before leaving the bedroom. I bow my head, clasp my hands together, and pray for a good day, and for Ojichan’s blessing. I notice his picture hanging right above the chest, putting a smile on my face. 

“Please watch over us today, Ojiichan.” I said to him, “It’s our last dive today before I go back to Japan. I don’t want it to end badly. I hope that my dream tonight wasn’t an omen. Thank you, Ojiichan. I miss you so much.” I could feel a tear rolling down my cheek as I end my prayer. It wasn’t a traditional shrine. There wasn’t a torii in front of the house or a collection plate or bells and all that, but it was enough. In fact, it was probably better. 

Just as I got back up, I caught a wonderful smell in the air. Sweet, mapley, buttery. Oh man, I know what this is! 

“Pancakes!” I moaned, my tongue hanging out. I rushed out of the room and down the hall. The smell of pancakes growing stronger with each step down the creaky hallway. Images of tall stacks of fluffy flapjacks filled my head. Okonomiyaki. The fluffy souffle pancakes you see people talking about on the internet. I want them. I hope that’s what I’m smelling. 

When I finally made it to the great room, I gasped as I saw Aniki flipping pancakes over a griddle. I was a little disappointed to see that they weren’t okonomiyaki, but they were still pancakes, and Aniki was the one making them, so I couldn’t complain. He was already wearing his wetsuit. I took mine off to go to sleep, and had on some regular pyjamas. I wondered if he never took it off. 

“Oh hi, Takkun!” he waved to me, flipping pancakes on the griddle in the meantime, “Did you have a good night's sleep? I heard you screaming just a bit ago? Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, it was just a bad dream.” I replied, not wanting to go into the details of it. I took a seat at the table, a plate and silverware already set up for me, and one right across from me for Aniki. A third one sat between us, probably for Gabe, my new Big Brother. 

“Oh alright then, I hope it wasn’t too bad.” said Aniki, putting the done pancakes on a platter. He turned off the griddle and brought the pancakes over to the table for us. There’s a bottle of maple syrup and a tub of butter ready for us. We divied up the pancakes between us, giving each of us three to start. “Be sure to leave some for Gabe. He should be here any minute now.” 

“Hai!” I nodded, dripping syrup on my breakfast. I usually took my pancakes without butter. I took my knife and cut off a piece of the stack, I stabbed it with my fork, making sure it was coated in syrup, and down the hatch it went. I nearly choked up. It was so delicious. They weren’t okonomiyaki, but they were still fluffy enough despite being so thin. American pancakes were a breed all their own, especially when it was Aniki making them. They were sweet and fluffy. I scarfed down the rest of the pancakes like a vacuum cleaner. I couldn’t put my fork down, as I chopped off more and more of the stack, shoveling it into my mouth, until there was nothing left.

I washed it down with a tall glass of milk, “Gyah!” I gasped, slamming the empty glass on the table, “Arigato gozaimasu!” 

“Ehehe.. shinpai shinaide… ” Aniki replied, chuckling nervously as he saw me inhale my breakfast, “I’m glad you liked them.” 

“They’re delicious!” I beamed, “You gotta teach me how to make them, Aniki!” 

“Hehe.. consider it a done deal!” he winked, taking a bite of his stack, “So, today’s your last day in Hawaii, right?” 

“Yeah… tomorrow morning I’ll be back on the plane to Japan.” I lowered my head, “I don’t wanna go home yet, Aniki! I wanna spend the rest of the year here with you!” 

“I know I want to too.” Aniki admitted, “But you gotta go back home, you know that. Tell ya what, if you come here during summer vacation, we can dive all summer long. Just you and me.” 

“And Big Brother?” I asked, my eyes wide, “He’ll be joining us too, right?” 

“Yeah you know it! Gabe wouldn’t miss it for the world!” he giggled, “You’ve really become fond of him, haven’t you Takkun?” 

“Yeah…” I blushed, trying to look away, “He’s a lot nicer than I thought he would be.” 

“He’s a teddy bear under that gruff skin,” Aniki nodded, finishing up his pancakes, just as the doorbells started ringing downstairs. “Oh that must be him!” Aniki wiped off his mouth, got up from the table, and walked downstairs to greet our guest. I followed him closely. I wanted to see Big Brother again! I know I had just seen him yesterday, but man I miss him. I’m gonna miss him a lot when I go back to Japan tomorrow morning.

Aniki landed on the first floor, walked past all the wetsuits, buoyancy compensators, masks, fins, snorkels, hoods, all that fun stuff. There were even a few tanks on the floor between us and the door. Big Brother Gabe was already waiting for us in the lobby. His muscular Latino body was a sight to see, especially tucked into a wetsuit. He tried to hide it under his clothes, but they didn’t help, given that they were just an Under Armour t-shirt and some basketball shorts. He looked like he was about to hit the gym. All I wanted to know was could I go with him and could Aniki come too.

“Kon'nichiwa, Big Brother!” I shouted, running up to hug him. I ran right into him, causing him to groan and stumble back, but he started smiling and laughing right away, recovering quickly. 

“Hey, Takkun! Did you sleep well?” he asked, slightly blushing as I wrapped myself around him, “You look like you’ve got a lot of energy for today.” 

“He does. We just had breakfast.” Aniki told him, walking up to him, “I saved some pancakes for you Big Brother.” 

“Oh that’s awesome! Thanks so much, man!” Big Brother smiled, kissing Aniki right on the lips. I was still a little uncomfortable about how close they were. How casually they kissed each other. How much they were in love with each other. It was all done behind my back and I don’t like it when those things happen. Takumi Aozora does not get left out of the loop, no sir! But… I still love them. They’re my big brothers. I can’t be a stinker about all of this. I gotta trust Aniki’s judgement, and I think he chose his boyfriend well. 

The three of us ran back up the stairs; back into the family area above the shop. Big Brother sighed as he stepped off the last step, smelling the pancakes on the table. They were still quite warm, judging from the smell. He bolted towards the table, sat down right at the head of the table, and shoveled as many pancakes onto his plate as he could. He drowned them in syrup, cut them up, and ate them as quickly as he could. If Aniki thought I was a vacuum, then Big Brother must’ve been a black hole. 

“Jesus, Gabe!” Aniki gasped, “Hungry much? I’ve never seen you eat this much!” 

“I was up all night.” Gabe admitted, “I couldn’t sleep, so I spent most of the night training.” 

“Training?” I wondered, “for what?” 

“That’s what he calls studying for the Navy entrance exam.” Aniki told me, “It’s his obsession. He’s years away from even taking the entrance exam and he’s already studying for it day in and day out. It’s crazy. He just needs to spend more time in the water relaxing instead of blowing his brain on a silly test.” 

“Hey, I’m in the water enough as it is.” Big Brother countered, “And it’s helping to keep my grades up. By the way, how are your grades looking, Kai?” 

“I… erm… shut up, man!” Aniki pouted. The rest of us just laughed it off. Aniki’s face turned cherry red, and his cheeks puffed out. He turned his head away, trying not to look at his boyfriend. 

“Haha… anyways, now that I’ve had breakfast.” Big Brother said, putting his dirty plate in the sink, “Let’s talk about today’s plans. It’s your last day in Hawaii, Takkun. You return to Japan tomorrow morning, right?” 

“Y-yeah… I’m not really happy about it…” I lowered my head, “I-I don’t wanna go. I wanna stay here with you guys and dive all the time. I’m gonna be really lonely back home.” 

“No you won’t be lonely. You have all your friends back in Japan to see, right?” Aniki reminded me of what I have back home, “Besides, you’ll be able to come back here and dive with us all summer. How’s that sound? Three months of nothing but clear Hawaiian waters and coral reefs and shipwrecks.” 

“Sounds like paradise if you ask me.” Big Brother added, “So keep your chin up, and let’s make today’s dive something to remember!” 

“Hai!” I cheered, perking up. 

“Also, when you come back, Takkun,” Aniki continued, “I’ve got something special planned for all of us.” 

“Oh really?” I asked, curious, “What’s that?” 

“Well, I’m gonna see about getting all three of us gear for the retro double hose full face masks!” 

Big Brother and me can’t help but gasp, “Nani?!” I cried out, “We’re gonna do that this summer!?” 

“You betcha!” Aniki nodded, “I’m gonna have everything sorted out. The retro masks, the double tanks, the rubber wetsuits, the matching fins. All of it.” 

“But isn’t this gear super technical and advanced?” Big Brother questioned, “It’s modeled after vintage diving gear after all. It doesn’t have a BC. It doesn’t have any gauges as far as I can tell. It’s only going to be so good if we know what we’re doing with it.” 

“And we will. I trust us all. If we can dive with LAMA gear, we can dive with this stuff.” Aniki winked, “Trust me. We’ll work it out.” 

“Famous last words.” Big Brother scoffed. 

“I might just put a hole in your tank for that.” Aniki quipped. 

“Okay okay I’m sorry.” his boyfriend backed off. 

“This is so great!” I could barely hold in my excitement, “I’m gonna be using advanced gear this summer! Oh I can’t wait! Thank you so much, Aniki! I promise I’ll practice extra hard while I’m in Japan. I won’t miss a single dive with the scuba diving academy! I promise! I’ll keep you both up to date on my progress too!” 

“That’s just what I wanted to hear, Takkun!” Aniki smiled, “Go get ‘em!” 

“Hehe… alright then, easy there tiger.” Big Brother motioned, “Let’s just focus on today for now, and then we’ll work out the future later, alright?” 

“Roger that, captain!” I gave him a salute, straight back, feet together and all. I caught him blushing as soon as his mind registered what I was doing. 

The navy brat has a soft spot for military conduct. I’ll have to keep that in mind.

Big Brother continued on, his face still slightly blushed, “Well anyways, since this is Takkun’s last dive, I think he should pick the gear, don’t you agree, Kai?” 

He turned to Aniki, who nodded in agreement, “Mhm! Sounds like a plan to me!”

“Well alright then. So what gear are we diving with, Takkun?” Big Brother asked, turning to me. 

There were so many to choose from, I probably should’ve had a hard time deciding. However, I knew what gear I wanted to dive with the moment I stepped off the plane at the airport. I took a deep breath, before ordering the gear of the day. “I want the AGA mask!” I announced, “We’re going to dive with the AGA mask!” 

Aniki’s face lit up with joy, “I knew it! You’ve had your sights set on that gear ever since I sent you the picture of me and Gabe diving with it!” He turned to Big Brother, “I was right! Now you owe me $30, babe!” 

“$30?! I thought we agreed on $20?” Big Brother retorted, completely flummoxed. 

“My rate went up, darling.” Aniki replied, with a mocking tone in his voice, “I guess there’s just too much competition for moi.” 

“Well alright then, Jacques Cousteau.” Big Brother rolled his eyes, “Anyways, AGA masks, eh? I’m not too surprised by that choice. It’s a good mask. I had a lot of fun diving with it. I’ve been waiting to use it again.” 

“Nice! I can’t wait to use it!” I was getting really pumped up about this. In all my diving, I hadn’t used any full face masks yet. All of it had been standard masks and regulators with mouthpieces. No talking, just silent bliss. I like diving with that, but I still wanted to try something more. LAMA gear was a taste of that, but it was odd. Now I get to try something different, and I can still swim as normal. Just perfect!

“Mhm, but there’s a catch.” Big Brother added. 

I was only a second away from bursting into a sprint towards my wetsuit to get ready for the dive when he took the thunder out of me, “What? What's the catch?” 

A smirk grew on his face, “If we’re going to dive with the AGA masks, then we need to do it  _ with all the consequences. _ ” I didn’t understand what that meant at the time, but when he looked over to Aniki, he started to grow a smirk too, so clearly they knew what was going on here. 

Must’ve been some silent language or telepathy that lovers have. They can just know what the other is thinking without even saying a word. They just exchange glances or sometimes just a hand motion, and they’re on the same page. I need that. I need some of that in my life, like right now! 

“What’s going on here…?” I asked, but I never got a straight answer. Just a “you’ll see” and that was that. The two of them sent me away to get my things, and they disappeared to get the gear around. 

I didn’t know what was happening until we got to the marina.

* * *

It seemed like I had spent about half of my time in Hawaii on the water. Either on the boat, skipping across the Pacific waves or underwater swimming around with the fishes. Most of the dives we had done were with standard regulators or with LAMA gear, and all of them had been fantastic. But this one was going to be a step above the others. I could just feel it. Today’s dive was going to be one for the scrapbook. I just know it. Why? 

Because I’m diving with a dry suit and AGA mask!

“Wooo! This is awesome!” I screamed, as we made our way to today’s dive site, “I’m gonna be diving with a dry suit!” 

I could hardly keep myself in my seat; I was so excited. Luckily for me, the dive site was coming up quickly. I was already in my wetsuit, the black and red suit that Aniki got me when I first got to Hawaii a week ago. It’s served me well, and now it’s going to help me out again for this dive, albeit in a different way. Three Viking dry suits were folded in the corner next to me, held in place by their own weight as we skimmed the water. There was a blue one for Big Brother, an orange one for Aniki and a red one just for me. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the suits as we got closer and closer. The tanks, the BCs, the regulators, the AGA masks, or the fins captured my attention like those suits did. 

“Alright, we’re here!” Aniki stated, slowing the boat down to a stop. Our wake washed forward under our boat, causing it to wobble slightly. Good thing all three of us had our sea legs. “Gabe, go drop anchor. I’ll start getting the gear around.” 

“Aye aye, captain!” Big Brother saluted, getting up from his chair and going to the back of the ship where I was. He climbed over the rear bench seat, opened up the rear compartment, and pulled the anchor out of the back. He tied it to the side of the boat, making sure the knot was secure, and tossed it overboard, letting it sink to the ground. The boat wasn’t going to go anywhere with that anchor and that knot. With that out of the way, he knelt down and started putting together his gear set. 

“Need any help putting together your gear, Takkun?” he offered. 

“No no, I can handle this part.” I waved him off, kneeling down and getting my stuff around. 

I started, much like every scuba diver, by putting my tank onto my buoyancy compensator. The BC is a device that inflates and deflates with the push of a button on the hose placed on the left strap. The tank straps to the back of it. I opened up the rear strap, which was thick and tight with a ratchet-like buckle. I loosened it, raised the BC up over the tank, and slid the strap around the cylinder. I placed my knee on the BC to hold it in place while I tightened the strap. I maneuvered the strap through the two middle slots and then out the last slot at the top of the buckle. With all of my strength, I pulled on that strap, tightening its grip on the tank until I was sure it wouldn’t budge. I then clamped the buckle down, and picked up the BC and shook it and the tank it was attached to a few times, making sure it wouldn’t slide off. Sure enough, it didn’t slide.

I’ve been practicing that at the dive academy for a long time. I’m pretty much a pro at putting tanks on buoyancy compensators now. 

Next, I reached down and picked up my regulator. The four hoses dangled down as I lifted it off the floor of the boat. Before I put it on the tank, I unscrewed the release valve and let some of the air flow out. I sniffed it, making sure it was clean. Knowing it was, I then closed the tank back up and fit the regulator onto the female connector on the tank. I screwed the two together, not snuggly so that it could still move and didn’t destroy the O-ring. 

One hose went from the first stage regulator to the second stage regulator, which connected to the mask eventually. Another went to the pressure and depth gauges, and the last two were all about BC and the dry suit. I took one of them and paired it with the controls on the BC with the quick coupler. Testing it out, I pressed the inflate button, letting the BC inflate to capacity, making sure there weren't any leaks. I then tested the release valves, which all worked perfectly. 

I looked up and saw that Aniki and Big Brother were already putting on their dry suits! No! I’m not gonna be undone like that! 

Making haste, I connected the mask to the second stage regulator, and put it up to my face without, strapping it down, and breathed in. Air flowed in from the tank, cool and crisp like I expected. I loved the feeling of breathing air from a scuba tank. It was just about the best sensation in the world for me. With everything but the dry suit’s hose connected (I’ll put that one on when I have the suit on), I reached down and picked up my red Viking dry suit. I was completely out of it looking at it. It was baggy, rigid, and very confusing. I found the zipper going across the back, shoulder to shoulder rather than neck to butt like a wetsuit was. I wasn’t really sure what to make of it, but I unzipped it and stepped in anyways. 

“Urm… ugh…” I groaned as I struggled to put it on. I turned to Big Brother, “C-Can I get a little help here?” 

“Sure,” he replied, “Sit down, Takkun, and I’ll get it on for you. There’s a bit of a trick to this, y’know.” 

“Hai.” I said, plopping down on the seat. He reached down and got the suit up my legs, telling me to put my feet through all the way to the bottom. They hit hard soles down at the base of the legs, where the built in booties were.

“Put your arms in now,” he ordered, “Y’know I’m impressed by how well you put together your gear. You were really thorough about it.” 

“Yeah? I don’t want anything to go wrong underwater.” I said, poking my hands through the tight seals on the sleeves of the dry suit.

“I’m the same way.” he winked, “Kai kind of makes fun of me for how thorough I am with our gear. I have to check everything and check it again.” 

“I heard that, Gabe!” Aniki quipped, zipping up his dry suit. Big Brother ignored him. 

“Alright, now stand up, Takkun.” he ordered. I got up from the chair and stood up on my two feet, letting my soles sink into the booties. He motioned for me to turn around, which I did, showing my back to him. My hood hung limp from the back of my collar, ready to be put on at a moment’s notice, just like Big Brother and Aniki’s. He took the zipper and closed it, sealing me inside. 

“It’s so nice.” I said, feeling the suit, “Nice and warm.” 

“It’ll be even better when we get the inflator hose attached to your chest.” Aniki told me. He was already wearing his hood over his head. His nearly shaved head was completely covered by the tight black neoprene. “I hope your dry suit isn’t too loose, Takkun. It’s the smallest size we have. They don’t make kids dry suits, so this is the best we have.”

“It fits good!” I stated, “I love the color too.” 

“Me too!” he smiled back, “Now, hoods on! We’re in the home stretch!” 

“Ugh, I hate diving hoods.” I moaned, “It messes up my hair.” 

“Same.” Big Brother agreed, “I know why we have to use it, but I still don’t like it.” 

“Well you two could always shave your heads like I did.” Aniki winked, “That makes wearing hoods a lot easier. Your hair won’t get messed up because you won’t have any hair to mess up.” 

“Hoods on, Takkun.” Big Brother ordered, rolling his eyes as he reached back and put the hood on. 

“Don’t forget to put in your comms.” Aniki reminded us, handing us our comlinks. They consisted of a single earpiece that we put in under our hoods. They worked wirelessly with a microphone implanted in our masks, allowing us to communicate verbally rather than rely on hand signals. I stuck it in my ear, and started putting on my hood. 

Big Brother made sure that none of his hair was poking out from underneath the neoprene. I did the same. The hood was tight, and I could feel my hair being bunched up by it. I ran my hands across the soft material, tricking myself into thinking my head was smooth and shaven. I’m sure Big Brother and Aniki felt the same way about their hoods. 

I kinda liked it actually….

We reached down and picked up our BCs and tanks and placed them on the rear bench. This way, it was easier to put it on. We sat down on what little room was left on the bench, reached behind us, and put our arms into the straps of the BC, buckling it on the shoulder and gut straps, and tightened it as best we could. I winced as it pressed against my body tight, but I liked it. It told me I was that much closer to the water than before.

“Alright, now let me tell you how to put on the inflator hose.” Aniki said, standing up to demonstrate, “This final hose attaches to this inflator valve on the front of your suit like this,” He took the hose and coupled it to the connection on the side of the inflator. “This button on the front there will send air into the dry suit to inflate it. This will help keep you warm by putting a cushion of air between you and the suit. It will also prevent suit squeeze when underwater.” 

“Alright then,” I nodded. The both of us took the final hose and attached it to the inflator. 

“There is a valve on your upper arm to help with deflation. It’s mainly used in emergencies, but it’s good to know why it’s there and what it’s used for.” Aniki finished explaining and picked up his flippers, heading for the edge of the boat. We followed him close behind.

“Meet me down there, babe.” he said, looking at Big Brother. Aniki leaned in and kissed him right on the lips. The two were kissing for quite a while, sharing the moment together. The kid in me wanted to stick out my tongue in disgust, but the romantic in me wanted to have some of that myself. 

“I’m right behind you.” Big Brother smiled back. He looked at me and whispered something to Aniki, making him chuckle. Big Brother and Aniki leaned in and gave me a peck on each cheek, causing me to blush. It felt good to know they loved me like that. I rubbed my cheek, as if there was lipstick from a mother’s lips, but there wasn’t anything there. Still, it was nice. 

Aniki put on his mask, tightening the straps so that no water could leak in. I could hear him breathing in through the mask. He slipped on his fins, holding onto Big Brother’s shoulder as he did it. We swapped fins this time for open heels. Since our dry suits came with attached booties, we couldn’t wear our normal closed heel flippers this time. The blades of his fins hanging over the edge of the boat, he raised his hand and held his mask in place, while holding his other gauges and hoses against his chest with his other arm. Without a moment to lose, he stepped off the boat, and dropped into the water below. His BC was fully inflated, so he bobbed right back up. Despite our radios, he still gave us the hand signal for a surface okay, which was a closed fist on top of his head. 

“All clear,” Aniki said verbally through the radio, “Gabe, you’re next. Get down here!” 

“Alright!” Big Brother replied, stepping up to the plate. Both of us got our fins on this time, seeing as I wouldn’t have anyone to lean on once he was in the water too. Mask on, he stepped off and crashed into the water just like Aniki, and bobbed right back up as well with his full BC. He gave the symbol for a surface okay, and now it was my turn. 

I shuffled to the edge of the boat. I stood with my flippers over the edge, staring over the blue waters of the Pacific. Aniki and Big Brother were floating on the surface waiting for me. I gave them the okay to dive down, not wanting them to worry about me, and the two of them disappeared under the waves. I held up my mask, strapped it to my face, letting the cool air from the tank in. My face was covered, with only a window for my eyes on that yellow mask. I was ready to take on the world in that gear. Without anymore thought, I held my mask in place and held my hoses to my chest, and stepped off the boat. 

I fell down into the water, bubbles appearing around me as I broke through the barrier. I bobbed up slightly, but quickly deflated my BC so I could go down to where the others were. Soon, I was sinking down into the water, the surface getting further and further away from me. The mask prevented me from doing the Valsalva maneuver, so I yawned instead. It was harder to do, but not for an expert diver like myself. 

“Can you hear me, Takkun?” Big Brother called through the radio, “How are you doing with the dry suit?” 

“Pretty good,” I answered, feeling the suit start to press against me. I pressed the inflator button on my chest. Air from my tanks flowed into the suit, inflating it, putting air between the suit and my skin. 

“That’s good.” Aniki nodded, turning to the right, “Let’s go! We got a lot to see!” He kicked off, heading in that direction over the coral reef. Big Brother and I followed closely behind him. I reached over and grabbed hold of his hand, holding it as we swam over the reefs. 

However, something hit me. My mind had been racing the whole afternoon. From the moment we picked up our dry suits and gear from the shop to this point in the ocean, my mind had been focused on one thing: the gear. I never asked about the dive. 

“Hey, Aniki…” I started, “Where are we diving today?” 

“You finally asked,” Aniki chuckled, “I thought you’d never ask where we were going. I didn’t know you were this interested in the dry suits.” 

“Well it wasn’t just the dry suit,” I admitted, “It was the AGA mask too. But that’s not the point. Where are we?” 

“It’s a special place, Takkun.” Aniki looked back, shooting me a wink through his mask, “Just you wait. We’re almost there.” He noticed I was holding Big Brother’s hand, “Don’t let go of him, Gabe.” 

“I won’t.” he said, “I got a tight grip on him.” 

“Okay…” I didn’t really know what they meant, but I wasn’t about to let go of Big Brother’s hand. 

Aniki led us through the area, stopping occasionally to check on the fauna we saw. There were colorful corals as far as the eye could see, and just as many different types of fish. It was all beautiful. Typical of Aniki, he freaked out at just about every fish we saw. He had to explain just what everything was we were seeing, and with just as much energy as he could muster. I mean I’m the same way, but Aniki is on a whole other level from me. 

I still don’t really know what Big Brother is like truly with the underwater life. He hides it so well. Though I could feel it in his hand. There were subtle changes in his grip each time Aniki freaked out about something. Every time he showed us a fish we didn’t know about (or fish he thought we didn’t know about), he would loosen his grip slightly. If I could see all of his face, I’m sure he would be smiling, maybe even blushing. 

Our trip through the reef went smoothly for the most part, until we reached our destination. As we approached it, I felt a tingling sensation run through my body. And no it wasn’t because I had to go to the bathroom. All the hairs on my body started to stand up on end. When I caught sight of where we were going, what we were here to see, I froze. My body tensed up, and I sank to the bottom, letting go of Big Brother’s hand. My fins touched down on the corals, sending some fish fleeing in all directions. My breathing became short, and my eyes were wide as could be, as I stared ahead at a shipwreck. 

“Hah… hah…” I gasped, hyperventilating slightly, “Wh-Why are we going to a shipwreck?!” 

“Takkun, calm down. It’s alright!” Big Brother floated down, grabbing hold of my hand again, and gripping it tight. He could surely feel the blood pumping through my veins at what felt like Mach 5. 

“I-I can’t do it!” I yelped, “I can’t go there! Get me out of here!” 

“Takkun! Takkun!” Aniki cried, grabbing hold of my shoulders, “Look at me! Watashiwomite kudasai!” he ordered. My eyes, wide as grapes, stared straight into his, all of my fears and anxieties on full display for him through our masks. All he had to see was my eyes to know I was in distress. 

“You’re going to be fine!” He told me, “Me and Big Brother are right here with you. This isn’t like that other wreck you went to on your own a week ago. We’ll be right here with you the whole time.” He took my other hand, “I’m not going to let you go. Big Brother Gabe is not going to let you go. We promise.” 

“Y-Yakusoku suru?” I asked, not sure what to make of this. 

  
“Hai.” he nodded, “This is for your own good. I wanted to take you here so you could confront your fear of shipwrecks. That’s what your dream was about last night wasn’t it? That’s why you screamed bloody murder when you got out of bed, right?” 

“H-Hai…” I replied, lowering my head in shame. 

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Bad dreams happen all the time, but we have to confront our fears.” he reminded me. 

“Fear has no place in a scuba diver’s heart,” Big Brother added, patting me on my hooded head, “You know that, and you’re not going to be afraid of shipwrecks by the end of this. Trust me.” 

“This wreck isn’t like the one you stumbled on earlier. It was deliberately sunk here by the Coast Guard. It’s an old patrol boat that they couldn’t use anymore, so they sunk it and made it into an artificial reef. There’s no dead bodies. All the control systems have been taken out. It’s a really cool wreck actually, if a little small. You’ll do fine. I promise.” 

“O-Okay…” I stuttered, keeping a tight grip on my brothers. We kicked off, lifting ourselves off the floor and closer to the shipwreck. 

It was a large ship, with at least two levels above the main deck, the highest one obviously being the bridge. A huge gaping hole had formed inside the hull, which we used to get inside. One by one, and not breaking our human chain, we filed inside. I took a deep breath, as I transitioned from the open water to the shipwreck. My anxiety welled up inside me, and then it disappeared like a wave on the ocean. I looked around. Just in this one corridor, I knew there was nothing to be afraid of. The energy of the ship was completely different from that old schooner. 

“You alright?” Big Brother asked, looking down to me.

“Yeah… I’m fine.” I nodded, “Let’s keep going.” 

“Aye aye captain!” they both replied, giving me a salute with their free hands. Big Brother looked bothered that he had to do it with his left hand instead of his right like it was proper to do. Typical Big Brother Gabe. 

There were small holes in the hull along the entire length, like bullet holes. I wondered what the ship had gone through in its final moments. Was it a terrorist attack? Did the Coast Guard fill the ship with lead bullets intentionally to aid with its sinking? I’m sure they put the gaping hole in it themselves if they sunk it themselves. The metal was already being chipped away and rusted by the waves. Muscles were starting to take hold, and corals were growing all over. Fish swam in and out of the rooms at will, surprised to see us intruding on their residence. 

Near the bow of the ship, the entire ceiling had caved in, the pressure too great and the metal too weak from corrosion to hold itself up anymore. I noticed a lot from the ship was missing, such as fire extinguishers and anything electrical. It must’ve all been stripped before it was sunk. Still holding onto my brothers, we ascended out through the hole in the ceiling and got a closer look at the bridge. All the glass was gone, also taken out prior. We swam into the bridge, noticing the wheel and what would have been the controls. There was also a lack of dead bodies, which I appreciated. 

“This is really cool.” I said, smiling under my AGA mask, “Where else can we go in this ship?” 

“Let’s go down to the hold.” Big Brother offered, “C’mon, I know the way. I’ve been on a few of these vessels before, but those were controlled by the Navy, not the Coast Guard. Still, it’s the same ship.” 

“What else do you know about this ship?” I asked, intrigued. 

“It’s a Sentinel-class cutter ship. The Coast Guard and the Navy both use them for patrolling. The Coast Guard uses it for patrolling… well, the coast, and the Navy uses them at their bases around the world. It’s a pretty nice vessel, fairly new too. I wonder why they decided to sink this one. Must’ve been something wrong with it that they couldn’t fix.” 

“Or maybe it was compromised in an attack?” I opined, “There’s a bunch of bullet holes in the hull.” 

“That could be it.” Big Brother put his free hand on his chin, before we made our way down through the vessel, through the flooded corridors, down to the hold. “Here we are, the prisoner’s hold. This is where the Coast Guard would hold people they’ve arrested on the open water. Anyone they find committing a crime would go down here while they’re hauled to shore.” 

“Wow…” I gasped, my grip on their hands loosening, until I was free from their grasp at last. My confidence restored, and the memories of the last shipwreck fading away, I made my way through the hold on my own. I examined every cell I came across, checking on the current residences, who had no idea they were serving hard time. Those simple fish were just the most recent inmates in the Takumi Aozora Federal Penitentiary, and I was their warden. 

“Feeling better, Takkun?” Aniki asked. 

“Much!” I replied, nodding back, “This isn’t scary at all. It’s actually really fun! Haha! I’m unstoppable!” 

“Alright, easy there tiger.” Big Brother cautioned, “You’re at your depth limit anyways, so that will stop you.” 

“Depth limit?” I was confused at first, but then it hit me. I reached back and checked my depth gauge. Sure enough, I was at my limit. I was as far down as I was legally allowed to go per my PADI certification. “Oh wow! I didn’t even know! I’ve never gone this deep before, and I didn’t even feel a thing!” 

“And you did it facing fear square in the face!” Aniki said, “You had so much fun, and you didn’t even have anything to fear coming here, right?” 

“Nothing at all but the bends.” I nodded, confident of my abilities. I swam over and wrapped my arms around Aniki as best I could, squeezing him as hard as I could, “Arigato gozaimasu, Aniki. You were right. This was the best way to conquer my fear. Thank you for making me a better sukyūbadaibā!” 

“Mondainai.” he responded, “Or as we would say here in Hawaii: Aʻole pilikia. No problem, Takkun. It’s the duty of a dive instructor to help out his apprentices, no matter what problems they’re facing. I’m here for you, always.” 

“Arigato….”

Big Brother can’t help but smirk, “You’re such a serious dive instructor, Kai. If only you were as dedicated to studying as you are to diving and to your students.” He rolls his eyes under his mask, “I swear you’re a one track mind, and that one track is scuba diving all day every day.” 

“Gabe, don’t ruin the moment.” Aniki shot him a look, and the three of us burst into laughter. 

“Haha. Y’know I never realized how nice it is to dive in a dry suit.” I noticed, “I bet it’s helped a lot in us getting down here.” 

“Mhm. I bet it did.” the two of them concurred, “It’s very comfortable, and easy to use once you get the hang of it.” The three of us checked our gauges, seeing how much pressure we have in our tanks, and therefore how much time we had left for diving, “You wanna make one more round around the ship before we leave?” 

“Absolutely!” I nodded in agreement. I didn’t even have to think about it. Of course I wanted to see more of this ship! I was having a blast!

“Alright! Let’s go see the aft dinghy launch.” Big Brother offered, “I’ll lead the way!” With that, the blue suited diver left for the aft, with the two of us following close behind. I couldn’t wait to see as much of this place as possible, as well as see many more shipwrecks in the years to come. My fears dissolved like salt in the water, turning into nothing and everything. They were a part of me, but they couldn’t stop me anymore. Merely memories of a younger, less worldly me.

Not to get all philosophical here, but I’m kind of a big deal.

* * *

We sat on the boat, resting after a long dive in the water. Our drysuits were, ironically, drying out in a pile on the floor. We’d hang them up when we got back to the shop after we rinsed them out to get the salt water off of them. I was nearly out of breath. Between my panicking when we first got to the ship, and the work it took for me to get down there, I was as winded as could be. Diving is a lot harder than it looks, and I knew that very well. 

“Hah.. That was fun!” I yelped, having just enough energy left to show my excitement. 

“Haha! So you had a good time?” Aniki asked. 

“Did I ever! That was the most fun I’ve had scuba diving in a long time! I can’t wait to do more shipwrecks and more dry suits!” 

“We’ll have to plan a trip to the Great Lakes in the winter then.” Big Brother said, half joking, “You’ll really wanna have a dry suit there diving in a frozen over Lake Michigan.” 

“Haha, I bet!” I smiled, “That’ll be so much fun! Please can we do it, Aniki?” 

“Hehe… I’ll see what I can do.” He shot a look at Big Brother, the two winking as they made a mental note of the ice dive, at least that was my assumption of what that look meant. 

“Kuso! I really don’t wanna go back to Japan now!” I moaned, “I’ve had so much fun diving with you two, I don’t wanna go back home! I can’t wait for summer vacation to get back here! I’m gonna spend all of it here in Hawaii with my big brothers, I promise!” 

“I’m gonna hold you to that!” Aniki warned me. He patted his leg, signalling for me to sit on his lap. I scooted over and plopped my butt down on his leg. He placed his hands on my shoulders, rubbing them like a masseur in Paris. 

I looked out to the sea. The endless waters of the pacific Ocean in front of me. I couldn’t tell if I was looking towards Japan, or to America. Maybe I was looking at Australia or Antarctica. Perhaps Chile? Indonesia? Mexico? I couldn’t tell. Everything was so far away, and between me and whatever was on the other side of the horizon, was miles and miles and miles of open sea, and countless opportunities to get in the water and see it all. This must’ve been what Jacques Cousteau thought when he invented scuba back half a century ago. 

This must’ve been what Ojiichan felt when he was out on the water himself. 

“Hey, Aniki.” I asked. I started speaking in Japanese, not even realizing it.

“What’s up, Takkun?” he replied, in Japanese as well, “what’s on your mind?” 

“I was wondering,” I began, “do you think Ojiichan is proud of us?” 

“Are you kidding me? He’s probably the happiest person in the world right now, looking down at us in our scuba gear, diving at every opportunity we have. I’m sure he’d want nothing more of us than that.”

“Really? That’s awesome!” I cried, “I’m glad he thinks that way.” 

“I don’t think we’re quite at his level yet.” Aniki replied, “but I’m sure we’re getting close. It’s only a matter of time before we can use his ‘parting gift.’ When that day comes, we’ll be able to fully honor his memory.” 

“Yeah. That’ll be the day.” I said, looking up at the clouds. I could already imagine myself diving in the gear. Diving down to great wrecks at the bottom of the ocean. Perhaps the  _ Yamato,  _ like I did in my dream. 

“I’m doing everything I can to restore it. Hopefully, I can have it ready for when you come back in the summer. Then, we’ll have some real fun!” 

“Hai!” I nodded, eager to get into the gear. 

“Hey! What’s going on here?” Big Brother asked, annoyed. We had been speaking in Japanese this whole time, leaving him out of the conversation, much to his dismay. “What am I missing? Are you two keeping secrets from me? Not cool, Kai!” 

It was only partially intentional. 

“Well you’re one to talk. Aniki told me you have conversations sometimes in Spanish with other people.” I countered. 

“Only with my parents!” he retorted, “They’re the only ones on this island who can speak Spanish anyways!” 

“Whatever Big Brother. If you want to know what we’re talking about, you should learn Japanese,” I paused for a beat, before adding, “or marry Aniki.” The two of us start giggling, as Big Brother turns lava red. He was about to blow like Mt. Fuji, or maybe Mauna Loa since we’re in Hawaii. 

“Wh-What? Th-That’s completely inappropriate!” He yells, starting to ramble on, just as I predicted, “W-We’re much too young to be thinking about marriage! A-Although i-it would be nice… But it’s way too early for any of that! No sir, we’re only 14! We can’t be thinking about this! NO I can’t no this isn’t right. This is breaking every rule in the book. I-I… can’t believe you’d even suggest something so… so lawless… and… !” 

“You were right, Aniki.” I whisper in Japanese, “He’s super easy to set off.” 

“You haven’t even seen the worst of it.” Aniki tells me, also in Japanese, “Just wait until he throws the navy handbook at you like you're some recruit. I swear he knows the whole thing by heart!” 

“Fufufu…” I giggle, “That sounds fun…” 

“Takkun, don’t abuse it. He’ll find a way to make you pay for it.” he warns me, “I guarantee it. He’s crafty like that, and he has an arsenal of military training and punishments at his disposal. He’ll make you pay. Be careful with this power, Takumi-kun.” 

“Hai, Kai-sensei.” I answered, bowing to the master, as we both watched him blow up. His ears nearly had smoke coming out of them. HIs face was cherry red and his eyes were bloodshot and wide with anger and fury. He really was turning into a volcano, but not the tranquil symmetrical slopes of Mt. Fuji. More like the boiling hot magma and violent explosions of Kilauea. 

If we didn’t watch out, he was going to bury our boat in a wave of boiling hot rules, regulations, and definitions, hot enough to burn us alike. 

Such great power at my fingertips. I feel like Amaterasu!


	6. The Man Who Made Kai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Commission for AlCharlie 
> 
> ===/===/===
> 
> Kai reminisces about his grandfather to Gabe after a long dive with LAMA gear, telling him about his first time diving with LAMA gear with his grandfather. 
> 
> ===/===/===
> 
> Kipona Aloha © AlCharlie

Nothing beats Hawaiian water. Nothing. That’s a fact of the universe. If I could spend every second of every day under these crystal clear Pacific waves, I would, and I would spend it with the guy I love the most. Through my LAMA gear I could see him watching the local wildlife going about their day. On this calm May day, we had come across all sorts of things, like our first octopus since meeting. He was hiding out in the reef, all camouflaged like the stealthy creature he was, er… she...maybe. I didn’t exactly get close enough to check if one of the tentacles was its… y’know forget I ever mentioned the octopus’s gender.

The pronoun game sucks.

Anyways, it kept its garden in impeccable shape. All neat and tidy, and free for its neighbors to enjoy. I watched as they seemed to compliment the landscaping, all while the octopus watched from the shadows. Gabe sure was liking it, until the octopus made itself known and scurried off, leaving a cloud of ink behind as a parting gift. 

“Ah!” shrieked the blue diver, “Hey! That was not cool, dude! Get back here and clean up after yourself!” He waved his fist angrily at the fleeing octopus, like he was about to pick a fight with an octopus. I don’t care how good of a fighter Gabe thinks he is, he is not winning against an octopus.

“Haha! Maybe you shouldn’t have startled it with your big, lumbering body.” I laughed, “You can’t just sneak up on an octopus like that, Gabe. They’re really shy, y’know? They just run away at the first sight of danger, and you look like an angry god to him!” 

“Haha, very funny.” he replied, rolling his eyes. He brushed himself off, and swam over towards me and away from the cloud of ink. 

We floated together over the reef, holding hands, watching as the fish continued to swim about. The colors were especially vibrant today. I hope I never see the day that the reefs in Hawaii become bleached. I’ve heard too many horror stories about the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs around the world dying due to the warming oceans, and I don’t know if I bear to see my own reefs die like that. I looked over at Gabe, who was adorable as ever in his blue LAMA gear and wetsuit. If I could just freeze this moment and stay like that forever, I would without looking back. It was honestly perfect. The two of us, floating here, over the reef, looking out over the perfect Hawaiian sea. What more could a guy want?

More air. The answer is more air.

I could feel the air getting a little thin in my helmet, and checked my dive computer on my wrist. Shock surprise, I was running out of air. Judging by Gabe’s expression and his tightening grip, he was running out too. It was a shame to leave. It felt like we had only just got there, but our depleting air didn’t lie. We had spent a ton of time down there and it was time to head back up. We kicked off, and swam up to the glimmering surface above. Water dripped off our helmets as we broke through, peering out at the world above, seeing O’ahu in the distance. Our boat wasn’t that far away, and we swam atop the surface until we got to it. 

“Well that was fun.” I chuckled, putting my hand on the latter. I reached down and pulled off my fins, throwing them one by one into the boat before climbing up. Gabe did the same and followed me up. 

“I’ll say,” he nodded, “Another great dive in the books!” Both of us sat down on the bench and took off our helmets, sliding them off the track and breathing in the salt-tinged air. Gabe coughed a little bit when he took it off. I don’t think he’s gotten used to liking that dry tank air yet. It takes a while to get used to admittedly. I think it took me a year or two to not cough or get a drink of water after getting out of the water. 

“I still can’t get over that octopus giving you the brown nose.” I laughed, “That guy did not want to show you his garden!” 

“That’s the last time I get close to one of those,” he groaned, “I’ll stick with the clownfish.” 

“Haha! You’re funny!” I couldn’t help myself and leaned in for a kiss. Sitting there in his scuba gear, complaining about the octopus that ditched him, he was so cute I had to do it. Luckily he was interested too, and we shared a quick, loving peck while we were still soaking wet. We sat there, floating in the water for a little while before taking off. The oceans were calm, as no storms were coming. It was a bad day to go surfing, but a great one for diving. Not a cloud in sight as we sat there resting from our dive. Nice. Warm. Calm. Just another day in paradise. 

“Damn I’m tired.” Gabe sighed, leaning back with his head over the side, “I love LAMA gear, but man it’s really hard to swim in sometimes. Really tuckers you out.” 

“You have no idea.” I nodded, “I’ve been diving with it for so long and I still haven’t found a way to not get so tired after using it.” 

“Well we could both try losing a few pounds. That might help.” Gabe looked at my chubby body, with his judgy eyes. That look meant war.

“Oh y’know we can’t all be Mr. Fitness over here.” I countered, jestering to his more muscular body, “How many miles do you run every day, and do you even lift, bro? Besides, I’m fine with how I am. The day I give up Doritos is the day I give up scuba diving entirely. It’s not gonna happen.” Both of us burst into laughter. Clearly I wasn’t the fittest person in the world, but I didn’t care. I liked my physique and so did Gabe. It meant there was more of me to hug, so it was a win-win for the both of us for me to stay chubby.

“And I wouldn’t want you to change.” Gabe winked, leaning in for another kiss, “I love you, Kai.” 

“Mmm… Love you too, Gabe.” I smiled, “And I love this LAMA gear so much!” I ran my hand across the rim of the gear, where the bubble helmet would go. It felt so mechanical and weird. I loved it, “If we started diving exclusively with it, I wouldn’t complain. You?” 

“Hehe, same. It’s really a lot of fun to use. You almost feel like you’re using a space suit with it.”

“You got that right.” I smiled, giving my boyfriend a thumbs up. We weren’t astronauts (though god I would love to go to space someday), we were something better. We were aquanauts. We scoured the seafloor for science and exploration, to see as much of the underwater world as we could in as short a time as possible, and the LAMA gear was the perfect gear for that sort of thing. That retro bubble was the best thing for a science fiction-like adventure underwater. It was like we were recreating  _ 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea  _ but with modern equipment and a lot less monsters. 

I love that book. I need to get Gabe to read it. 

“Though, I’ve been wondering.” Gabe continued, “Your fascination with LAMA gear. How did that happen?” 

“Hmm? What do you mean?” I asked, confused. 

“Well I mean, you told me that your parents didn’t like that gear at all, even though they bought a few of them for the store. So if they didn't like it, they wouldn’t have gone diving with it all that much, and certainly not with their son. It’s not exactly the kind of gear you’d expect kids like us using.” 

“I guess so.” I said, shrugging my shoulders, “I don’t really put a lot of thought into what gears are ‘age appropriate’ or not. I’m like a cat. ‘If I fits, I sits,’ or in this case dive.” 

“Right right, but where did it come from? Who taught you how to dive with it? Did you teach yourself, or what? Am I missing something? I wanna know more about the Chronicles of Kai Ka’aukai and his Kingdom of LAMA Gear.” 

“Haha… very funny.” I rolled my eyes, “You’re right, it wasn’t my parents that showed me the gear. It was… it was my Ojiichan.” 

“Ojiichan?” Gabe looked confused, “Is that Japanese for something?” 

“No it’s Persian! Of course it’s Japanese you dumbass!” I punched him in the shoulder lightly, “Ojiichan is Japanese for grandpa. He’s the one that showed me how to dive with LAMA gear. In fact, he was the one that really encouraged me to take on scuba diving.” 

“Really? Not your parents?” Gabe looked surprised, “I thought they were big divers too.” 

“Oh they are, and they definitely pushed me to take on diving as well, but ojiichan had a really big impact on my life. He really did help me in ways that my parents just couldn’t.” I felt a tear running down my cheek as I started thinking about him again. Every time the topic of Ojiichan came back up, it always made me so emotional. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to talk about it, but at this point it was too late to turn back. Gabe wasn’t going to let me leave him hanging either. So I had to push through. I dried my tears with my already wet hand (not the best idea but not much I can do about that in a soaking wet wetsuit), sucked in my snot, and put on a brave face, and turned to my lover. 

“Let me tell you about him. I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell you about my family yet, but I think I’m ready now.” I smiled, holding his hand and squeezing it tight, “You’ve already met Takkun, so it’s not like it’s going to be a big secret for long.” I took a deep breath, got myself prepared mentally for the long story ahead, and began telling Gabe, my boyfriend, the story of my Ojiichan: Gai Aozora.

* * *

Ojiichan and I had always been very close. I didn’t really know or understand why at the time, but we just seemed to click. His love for the sea was limitless, and he was the kind of guy that wanted to spend as much time in the ocean and around it, and he had been like that since he was very young. He emigrated from Japan with Obaachan long before I was born and settled in Hawaii, where he was as active as ever, even into retirement. 

I got my scuba diving license four years ago, almost to the day actually. It was May when I got it, and I had signed for the class on my tenth birthday back in March. I was in the dive shop, helping dad get the place stocked up. We had just had a group of prospective divers come in and rummage through the shop, purchasing everything that they needed for their new lives underwater, and they had basically torn the shop down to the studs with how much they had picked up. 

I’m sure we made a lot of money off that group, but it was hard work nonetheless for a 10 year old. 

“Kai?” Dad called over to me from the register, “Can you take these masks and put them on the display for me, please?” 

“Sure thing, dad.” I nodded, taking the box of diving masks from him. I was being especially helpful that day, since I was hoping my parents would take me out for my first official dive later that day if I did all my chores like a good boy. Of course, they hadn’t told me they would do that, I was just assuming they would. It made sense. I had just received my license from PADI a day earlier, and I was eager to do a lot of dives with it. When your parents own a dive shop, it’s easy to think that you’ll go diving every single day. Outside it was another perfect day in paradise. The sun was shining, not a cloud in sight. Just like it is for us right now. I probably would have gone scuba diving myself if I had a dive buddy or the guts to go it alone. 

I hung the loose masks up on the rack on the wall, making sure they were all neatly displayed for customers to inspect and potentially buy. There were all sorts of colors and styles. Personally I don’t like using those masks all that much. My heart’s set on LAMA gear and full face masks, but I was just a beginner still, so those normal diving masks were all I knew, and I liked them a lot as a beginner. I had an orange pair myself to go along with the rest of my gear, and I used that with all of my diving classes, along with my fins. 

As I was putting up the masks, I saw someone walk by the window out of the corner of my eyes. I recognized him immediately, and as soon as the door bells rang, I had dropped all my masks and ran straight for Ojiichan standing in the doorway. 

“Ojiichan!” I screamed, wrapping my arms around his big belly as best I could. He was a lot bigger than I was — I was actually quite the shrimp back then — and my arms could hardly get around him. 

“Ahaha! Konichiwa, Kai-kun,” Ojiichan said, rubbing my head, “How’s it going? Being good to your parents, right?” 

“Nope! Nothing but trouble!” I grinned, “I’m helping Dad restock the store.” 

“Zat so? Well, I don’t mean to interrupt. I guess I’ll just head back home and let you finish up in here.” Ojiichan started turning back towards the door, playfully of course.

Gai Aozora was a miniature monolith. Even though he was 77 years old, retired, and stood only five feet and some odd inches tall, he was larger than life. His grizzled, grey hair told a lot of stories in and of itself, and his big belly made sure that he always took home first place at a Santa Claus impersonation competition. Days like this, when he was in a really good mood, were the best days ever, because that meant that exciting things were going to happen. I didn’t know what they were at first, but I knew something good was going to happen. Ojiichan had a habit of coming by unannounced. Being a widower by that point, we were all he had left, so he wanted to spend as much time with us as he could. 

“No stay stay!” I pleaded, tugging on him to try and get him back into the store. 

Ojiichan couldn’t help but laugh, “Haha! I’m just teasin’ Kai-kun.” Even though he had lived in the United States for decades at this point, he still addressed everyone with Japanese honorifics no matter who they were. Smiling, he looked up and over to my father, who was walking over from the cash register, “How’s everything going, Ali-san?” he asked, “Is this little guy giving you all kinds of trouble?” 

“More than you know, Gai.” Dad chuckled, “But he’s been keeping out of trouble today.” 

“That’s good.” said Ojichan, looking down and giving me a wink. He looked around the store, “Where’s Minami-chan? Is she at work again?” 

“Yep.” Dad nodded, “Gotta make sure the oceans are looking nice and healthy after all. Takes a lot of work to study all that.” 

“Baka. Minami-chan works too hard.” Ojiichan scoffed, “I’m not getting any younger here, y’know. I’d like to see my daughter before I die.” 

“With your health, Gai, you’ll outlive us all.” said Dad, prompting Ojiichan to burst out laughing. 

“Ahahaha!!! I hope so! Amaterasu’s blessed me so far, let’s hope she keeps going!” Ojiichan held some old school beliefs. I didn’t really understand why he always seemed to invoke the old Shinto gods even though he had been in the US for years now. He made regular pilgrimages to Japan to pray at the shrines there, and had even set up his own makeshift shrine in his backyard. He venerated Amaterasu highly, which made sense since she was the Zeus of the Shinto pantheon, although I think his shrine was actually dedicated to Ryujin, the god of the sea. 

I should take you to that shrine when I get the chance. He donated the land and it’s now a park. 

“You’re in a really good mood today, Ojiichan.” I noticed, letting go of him and stepping back a bit to give him space, “Why’s that? Did something good happen today?” 

“Well let’s see. I had a date last night and it ended in… well you’re too young for the details so we’ll just say it ended in a good way and leave it at that.” Despite the redaction, I had known Ojiichan long enough to know that he was talking about his exploits in the bedroom. Even though he was a great grandfather, he was pretty lecherous, and it always rubbed me the wrong way, especially how he bragged about it. Maybe when I’m older it won’t look so bad in my mind. 

“Ojiichan… you shouldn’t talk about your dates like that.” I told him, raising an eyebrow.

“Ehehe… Gomen’nasai, Kai-kun.” he bowed his head, apologizing for his behavior in front of me, “anyways, I didn’t come to talk about that.” he looked me dead in the eyes, “I wanna see it.” 

“It?” I cocked my head, confused at first. 

“Oh come on, Kai-kun. You know what I mean. I wanna see  _ it _ .” he gave me a wink and then it clicked in my head. Smiling, I pulled out my wallet from my pants pocket and opened it up, showing my pride and joy inside the centerfold: my PADI open water diving certification. It had my name on it and everything. 

“Woohoo! I’m so proud of you, Kai-kun! I knew you could do it!” Ojiichan wrapped his arms around me and gave me a big hug. He hugged me so tight and he was so happy that he actually picked me up off the ground slightly, “Now we really are a family of scuba divers!” 

“Yes!” I cried, jumping up and down after he put me back down. All four of us. Mom, Dad, Ojiichan, and I, diving together. That was a huge dream of Ojiichan’s, and now he could make it a reality. We actually did get to do it a few times, but Dad and Mom were always so busy with other things that it made it pretty hard to get all four of us together, especially Mom, so it was mostly just the two of us. 

“He worked very hard to get that license, and we’re very proud of him.” Dad added, patting me on the shoulder, “And if I remember correctly, you two made a promise of sorts when he started his classes?” 

“Hai, Ali-san. We do have a promise, and I’m here to keep that promise.” he nodded, and turned to me, “So what do you say, Kai-kun? Ready to take your first dive as a certified scuba diver?” 

“Hai, Ojiichan!” I replied, giving him an enthusiastic nod. 

“Haha! That’s my boy!” 

“You can use any of the gear in the shop. Please, help yourselves.” Dad said as he walked back to the counter, “I’ll keep an eye on things here, Kai. You go have fun with Ojiichan, alright?” 

“Alright! Thanks, Dad!” I said, turning to Ojiichan, “C’mon! All the gear is in the back of the store.” 

With that, I took his hand and led him to the back room. We passed by the register with Dad standing dutifully behind it, dusting the shelves and cleaning up back there, and headed through the door by the 1984 mural and into the back room. While the front of the store looked nice, the back was quite cluttered that day. We were kind of just sticking everything that didn’t belong in the front and putting it haphazardly back there, so it was a bit of a jungle to get through. After grabbing the basics — tanks and weight belts while our wetsuits and fins were stored elsewhere — we started going through the different types of gear, checking to see which ones we liked the most. 

“Hmm… let’s see… what if we tried full face masks?” Ojiichan suggested. 

“But Ojiichan, I’m not certified to use a full face mask yet.” I told him. Believe it or not, I was a bit of a rules follower back then. I had just gotten my license, so I didn’t know how to stretch its definitions yet. I thought the only thing that I was qualified to use at that point was a standard mouthpiece regulator and a standard diving mask.

How wrong I was. 

Stop giving me that look, Gabe. I’m certified to use all of this gear  _ now _ , and so are you, so stop glaring at me! 

“Now how are we supposed to have fun in this world if we always follow the rules, Kai-kun?” opined Ojiichan. He was full of little life lessons and wisdoms like this, but that one stuck with me. 

I’m serious, Gabe. Stop glaring at me or I’ll throw you overboard with the anchor tied to your foot.

“Now then,” Ojiichan looked around the room, searching for anything out of the ordinary that we could use. That’s when he caught sight of the LAMA gear sitting on the top shelf. For some reason, that one piqued his interest quickly. “Hello there,” he said, grabbing a step ladder and climbing up, pulling the gear off of the shelf. The one that he had grabbed was the orange one that I’m still using to this day. “What’s this gear, Kai-kun?”

“Oh, that’s LAMA gear.” I stated, “Mom and Dad bought it a while ago from a previous owner. They thought it was interesting at first and wanted to sell it in the shop, but they never got any buyers, and after their first dive with the gear, they didn’t like it anymore either, so they put it in storage, hoping to find someone who will buy it off them, but no one’s come forward yet.” 

“I see. Quite the history in this little bubble helmet.” he said, looking it over. The helmet was clicked in place on top of it, along with the front weight, but the top weight wasn’t on yet, and the hoses weren’t attached yet. “Reminds me of my old scaphander diving gear, the first diving gear I ever used back when I was a sponge diver in Japan.” 

“Really, Ojiichan?” I asked, intrigued. Ojiichan’s stories of his days as a sponge diver were the stuff of legends. He was only fourteen when he was first hired as a sponge diver out of some small village on the coast, and by the time he was done, he had logged more dives than anyone else, and hauled more sponges to the shore than any diver in the history of Japan. He talked of wrestling squids and battling sharks in his quest to get these sponges from the seafloor. I’m sure a lot of it was embellishment to amaze a little kid like me, but I don’t doubt the parts where he tells about his love of the sea and all the things in it. He spoke of having communion with the fish that came to meet him, and he was eager to meet every species he could. I wish I could’ve been there to see some of his dives as a child. 

“Yeah those were the days, Kai-kun.” Ojiichan said, going down memory lane again. However, I managed to snap him back to reality before the sun started to set. 

“Y’know I’ve always been interested in that gear too.” I spoke up, which got his attention quickly.

“Oh really?” he said, holding up the gear, “Well then that’s as good a reason as any to make this the gear you use for your first dive then, eh Kai-kun?” 

“You think so?” I said, getting excited.

“I know so! Now let’s get all our gear ready and get out on the water!” 

“Aye aye, captain!” I gave him a salute, and darted off to get my wetsuit and fins around, “Oh but promise me something, Ojiichan.” 

“What is it, Kai-kun?” 

“Don’t tell my parents we’re using LAMA gear.” 

“Your secret is safe with me.” he put his fingers to his mouth, and ran them across his lips like he was zipping them shut. I smiled and headed up to my room, gathering my wetsuit and fins and headed back down. Before I knew it, we were loading the gear into Ojiichan’s truck and heading out. My first dive as a certified scuba diver, and it was going to be with Ojiichan and with LAMA gear. I’m surprised I didn’t faint from all the excitement. I was so eager to get into the water I was already imagining myself in the gear, holding Ojiichan’s hand as he drove us out to the marina.

Classic rock was blaring on the radio as we drove down the highway. We were banging to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and, something I thought was awesome, the next song that came on after that one was “Holy Diver” by Dio. That was a banger, and very appropriate for the trip we were on. We got lucky enough to listen to the whole song before we got to the marina, and just as we were pulling into the parking lot, “Back in Black” by AC/DC was just starting up. Man I would’ve loved to stay in there and listen to that banger. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the boat with all of our gear and turned the radio back on again, it was already over, and a different song that I can’t remember was playing instead. 

It was probably a KISS song. I really don’t like KISS.

I don’t have to tell you that our gear was heavy, but it was heavy, especially for me. I was only ten at the time so it was a lot harder to carry all that weight to the boat. But we got it over there, Ojiichan got the boat untied and started, and we pulled it out of the marina and out into the open sea. We headed out to a beginner’s diving spot, the same one that I took you to for your training dive, so we didn’t head that far out of the harbor. We had a good view of Honolulu from the spot, and the ocean was calm just like it is today. It was diving time. 

“Lay anchor, Kai-kun!” Ojiichan ordered, “It’s time to dive!” 

“Aye aye, captain!” I saluted, lowering the anchor into the water. 

Ojiichan was already getting his gear around. He and I both learned at that moment how to set up LAMA gear, since neither of us had done it before, but luckily it was pretty easy to do. The harness for the tank isn’t any different than normal scuba gear, so we were able to get the tank strapped on pretty easily. We first tried to stand the tank right side up since that’s what every other gear was like, but when we saw that the hoses were quite long and they went down below the belt, we had to flip the tanks around, which was more awkward to do of course. Hoses connected and air going in, we started getting our wetsuits on. I wore some swim trunks under my suit, and I’m glad that Ojiichan did too, because I didn’t need to see a fat, wrinkly old man in a speedo. 

Yeah he had more muscle than your average 77 year old, but there’s still a lot of wrinkles and I don’t need that image in my head! 

I noticed that Ojiichan was using an old style two piece wetsuit. It came apart at the waist, consisting of a jacket and a pair of pants. He already had the pants on, so he just needed to slip on the jacket, which had a part that wrapped around his groin and snapped to the inside of the front of the suit to hold the whole thing together after he zipped it up. I think that style suit is called a Beavertail. Whatever it was, it was very old. I could tell that he had been using it for ages at that point, as the ends were starting to fray, and the suit was faded in several spots. It had seen dives from all over the world, and I’m not sure how it was holding itself together. Even though it was old, he had kept it in surprisingly good condition, but age is still age.

“Hey, Ojiichan?” I asked, slipping on my own wetsuit, which was a long sleeve, standard black wetsuit. I think it might’ve had a small grey patch on the chest, but that was about it. “Why do you still use that old suit?”

“This thing?” Ojiichan stroked his mustache, “Well it’s a classic! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, am I right, Kai-kun?” he reached down and grabbed his hood, slipping it over his head, “Now, did you bring your hood with you, Kai-kun?” 

“Umm… no.” I admitted, bowing my head, “I forgot it.” That was a lie. I didn’t forget it. I left it at home on purpose because I didn’t like hoods. Even back then I knew that I didn’t really like wearing a hood for diving. I knew why I had to wear them. I knew what they were good for, but I just didn’t like them. However, I couldn’t bring myself to say that in front of Ojiichan so I lied about it. 

Although, he didn’t really believe me at all.

“Oh, you ‘forgot’ it.” Ojiichan replied, raising an eyebrow, “Well it’s no matter. We’ll take care of it later. Here, let me help you with the rig.” I was picking up the orange LAMA gear at that point, struggling to put it on, much like you were having trouble when you first put it on, but Ojiichan came and saved the day. He helped me get it over my head and down onto my shoulders. I poked my head through feeling like a spaceman as I did so, and he got all of the straps of the harness tightened up. By the time he was done, I was almost ready for the sea. I just needed the weight belt around my waist, which I did on my own, the fins on my feet, which I did when I got to the edge of the boat, and the helmet on my head. 

“Here. You can use this to keep your hair out of the way.” Ojiichan took his blue handkerchief out of his pants pockets and wrapped it around my head, “Now don’t worry, I haven’t used this thing at all today, and I just washed it last night, so it’s all clean, but next time it might not be so bring your hood, Kai-kun! I actually wore this under my old diving helmet back when I was a sponge diver.” 

“Really?” I beamed, feeling honored to wear something that was a part of Ojiichan’s diving history. 

“Yep, wore it for every dive until I started wearing these neoprene hoods. They did a much better job keeping my hair back, and they kept my head warmer too! So make sure you always wear a hood when you go scuba diving, Kai-kun. It’ll save you from hypothermia.” 

I didn’t end up always wearing hoods. I’m sorry Ojiichan.

Gear ready, we headed for the edge of the boat. If it was us doing it, it wouldn’t be anything special, but since it was me and Ojiichan doing it on my very first dive as a licensed scuba diver, and it was my first dive using LAMA gear, there was a certain magic in the air I guess, because I could barely sit still as I put my fins on. Ojiichan really had to hold me down while I got them on, and I think if I hadn’t put on my bubble helmet beforehand, I would’ve dropped that and either broke it or had it sink into the ocean and that wouldn’t have been good. After I got my fins on, I helped Ojiichan get his on, letting him lean on me as he put them on. 

It was definitely strange, standing there with this big thing on my head, like some space cowboy. But I wasn’t in space. I was on the edge of a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean about to go scuba diving with the coolest gear in the world, diving with the coolest grandfather in the world, in the most beautiful islands in the world. I squeezed Ojiichan’s hand, eager to get in the water with him. 

“Ready, Kai-kan?” he asked. 

“Yep!” I nodded. 

“Alright, on three.” he said, both of our fins over the edge of the boat, “One… two… THREE!” We jumped in at the same time, plunging into the water as one. 

We sank right down to the bottom, which was a little shocking for me since I’d never used that gear. Because we didn’t have a BCD, it was more difficult to float around. Both of us had to take a second to adjust to the change in posture and composure. Neither of us were prepared for how to use the gear. I don’t even think Ojiichan read the manual before he started swimming with it, and I certainly hadn’t been watching any YouTube videos on LAMA gear diving, if there even were any before I started posting some there. 

Wait you didn’t know? I thought I told you that I had posted a few there. You’re actually in one. I’ll tell you about it later, let me finish! 

“You doing okay, Kai-kun?” Ojiichan asked me, communicating through the radio, which was a new experience for me as well, “Because I might be having a little trouble myself.” He was actually, and it was pretty funny to see. He was going head over heels as he tried to move. We both know LAMA gear’s really top heavy now, but back then neither of us did, and Ojiichan especially was struggling with the concept. He couldn’t get his balance with all that weight on top. 

“Yeah I think I’m getting the hang of it.” I’m a quick study when it comes to diving, so I got the hang of it quickly, swimming over to help Ojiichan get back up and running. I put his arm over my shoulders and propped him up. It was a little awkward with the bubble helmet, but I managed to get myself under there and help him swim ahead, “You’ve gotta keep yourself upright while you swim.” 

“Is that so? What a strange gear!” he laughed, “reminds me of my old gear! Ah the good old days when you had to deal with all this kind of stuff. I’m glad they still make weird gear like this!” He kicked off, getting the hang of the gear as soon as I told him the cheat code. “I think I’ve got it too, Kai-kun! Arigato gozaimasu!” 

We got ourselves adjusted to swimming underwater with the gear and we were off. I held onto Ojiichan’s hand tight as we explored around the reef. You know the one, since it was the one that we first went to as a couple. The coral was especially beautiful today with the sun high in the sky, shooting beams of light down into the reef through that crystal clear blue water. All the local fish were coming out to enjoy that beautiful day. I couldn’t help but point out all the fish that I knew as we swam. 

“Look at that one, Ojiichan!” I said, pointing to one swimming out of the coral, “It’s a kikakapu!” 

“A kika-what?” Ojiichan asked, confused. He didn’t know the Hawaiian names for fish, only the English ones. 

“That’s its Hawaiian name,” I explained, “In English, it’s called a bluestripe butterflyfish.” 

“Ah, I think I like the English name better.” Ojiichan tried to scratch his head there, but the helmet got in the way, which caused both of us to chuckle a bit. We continued on, but I kept pointing out all kinds of fish that I knew about, and I kept calling them by their Hawaiian names first, and then having to tell Ojiichan what their English names were too. Luai’ipala, palani, paku’iku’i, ala’ihi, and even the state fish humuhumunukunukuapua’a, or just humuhumu if you don’t have enough time. I’m not sure if you know what these fish are, Gabe, but I prefer the Hawaiian names so you’ll just have to look them up later, or I’ll just have to teach you Hawaiian. Whichever one is easier. 

“You sure know a lot about these fish.” Ojiichan stated, as I explained what each of them were and how they got their names. 

“Yep! I read through one of mom’s textbooks actually. Cover to cover.” I grinned, “I learned a lot about the fish in Hawaii. Like that one!” I swam over and crouched over the fish in question, “That’s a kapuhili, and over there is a kihikihi, and that’s a lauwiliwili nukunuku ‘oi’oi!” 

“Slow down, Kai-kun. I was barely able to learn English as a young man, now you’re trying to get me to learn Hawaiian with one foot in the grave?” Ojiichan laughed, patting me on the shoulder, “You’re not as airheaded as you look, Kai-kun.” 

“Ojiichan!” I cried, annoyed by that little comment, but he just kept laughing. I knew he was joking, but I couldn’t help but pout about it. 

We kept going, trying to see as much of the reef as we could. I swam up to the big rock that I took you to, and I swam all through the crevasses in the reef, or at least the ones that I could fit in with the LAMA gear on top of my head. I tried to get Ojiichan to join me in a few of these places, but I noticed he was getting slower and slower the more we kept going. Through the intercom we shared, I could hear that he was running out of breath. I knew we had plenty of air left in our tanks. I even checked the dive computer on his wrist just to be safe, and checked my own as well. 

“Hah… slow down, Kai-kun.” Ojiichan said, stopping near a column of coral. 

“What’s wrong, Ojiichan?” I asked, swimming back to him. 

“I’m not as young as I used to be, believe it or not.” he said, catching his breath, “swimming around with you, trying to keep up with you and also learning how to use this new gear, it’s exhausting on my old bones. Let’s just take a quick break, alright?” 

“Oh okay Ojiichan.” I nodded, resting with him in the coral maze. We talked for a little while while we waited for him to get his strength back to continue the dive.

“I’m sorry that we’ve had to take a break, but it was that or cutting the dive short, Kai-kun.” Ojiichan apologized, “I just can’t keep up with you, no as well as I’d want tos. But don’t get mistaken, I’m still enjoying this dive! I’m having the time of my life down here with you.” 

“Me too, Ojiichan!” I smiled, “And it’s no big deal. If you get tired, you get tired. That’s all there is to it. Better to say that you can’t keep up than try and get so tired you can’t get back to the surface anymore. I’d even be okay with a shorter dive as long I still get to spend more time with you.” 

“That’s a relief,” he sighed, leaning back, “I was worried you were gonna be upset that your old Ojiichan was holding you back.” the both of us laughed, since that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind at all. 

“Truthfully, this is the first time I’ve gone leisure diving in a long, long time.” Ojiichan admitted, “Obaachan was never a diver, and she didn’t really seem interested in learning for my benefit, so I was just diving commercially for most of my life, and I had so much work to do as a commercial diver that I didn’t have time to do leisure dives on my own or with coworkers.” 

“Really?”

“Yep, so thanks for letting me do my first fun dive, Kai-kun!” he patted me on the shoulder, grinning and giving me a thumbs up at the same time. I could tell when he mentioned Obaachan that there was a change in the tone of his voice, like he was reminiscing in that split second about her, which got my gears turning in my head. 

“Hehe… hey I was wondering something, Ojiichan.” I asked, “Do you miss Obaachan?” 

“What kind of a question is that?” he boomed, “I miss her every day of my life! There’s not a second that goes by that I don’t wish that she was still here with us, not just for my own sake but for your mother’s as well and for yourself. She really loved you two more than anything in the world, Kai-kun.” 

“Hehe… right right. I was just wondering… since you’ve been going on so many dates recently, that I just didn’t know if you had forgotten about her or something.” 

“Hmm… well it’s true I’ve been going on a lot of one night stands and dates recently, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t miss her. No one can replace her in my eyes. She was my world, and I did everything to please her. I made her my queen and no one will ever be able to sit on that throne again.” 

“Then why go on all these dates?” I pressed him on this. Something about his dates really stuck in my craw at that time.

“It’s got nothing to do with her. Truthfully, I’m probably being a really silly old man for going on all these dates. I should be settling into my old age, reminiscing on all the good times that I had with my wife, instead of fooling around like this. But I guess I’m just restless, and I think there’s still some love out there for this old geezer, and while no one can replace her, that doesn’t mean I can’t share my stories of her with others who are interested to listen. I think she would want me to keep being happy. She wasn’t the kind of girl that would let someone just sit around and be sad all day long.” 

“I see.” I replied, not quite understanding it at the time. 

“Also, I can experience some of the things that were off limits to me when I was younger, like men.” he winked at me. The comment caught me off guard at the time. I had no idea that Ojiichan was even interested in men, let alone dating them completely under my nose. It was a pretty shocking thing to lay on a 10 year old right after a dive. 

He laughed, seeing the shocked look on my face, and continued, “What? You don’t think a guy like me would give a second thought about some man on man company? Haha! Let me in on a little secret. My first crush wasn’t your Obaachan. It was actually a man, and that man would go on to become my father in law! Can you believe it? I had a crush on my wife’s father before I had a crush on her! Ah, it cracks me up even 60 years later.” 

“Wow…” I gasped, blushing like crazy. I was probably as red as a tomato after that revelation.

“Haha! I’m glad times have changed, Kai-kun.” he patted me on the shoulder again, “your generation’s a lot more open to things that were so far beyond the pale for me they were unspeakable. It’s good! You live in a world now where these sorts of things are acceptable. Celebrated even! You should follow your feelings more freely than I have, that’s for sure!” 

I was still blushing as he rambled on about this newfound societal acceptance, “I-I guess I haven’t really figured out what those feelings are yet,” I admitted. 

“You’ll figure them out soon enough,” he got up, indicating that he was ready to swim again, “I just want you to make me a promise, Kai-kun.” 

“What’s that, Ojiichan?” I asked. 

“Promise me that whomever you love, man or woman, be sure that they are a good person who loves you back. That’s the only way you’ll get my approval for them. Promise me that you’ll find a person that loves you just as much as you love them, in as many ways as possible. Alright?” 

“Alright, Ojiichan!” I nodded, not really understanding what he meant, but that wasn’t really my burning question at the time. We kicked back off, and continued our dive through the beginner’s coral reef. I kept him slow so that he could keep pace better, and we managed to get through the rest of the dive without another rest break, seeing all kinds of more wonderful fish and even an octopus just like we did today. Ojiichan didn’t get to enjoy its garden either though. It inked on him just like it did with you Gabe. Talk about a coincidence! 

Though I still had to ask him one more thing. 

“How will I know that you approve of them, Ojiichan? My love?” I asked, “What if it’s several years from now and you’re… y’know…” I was on the verge of tears thinking about his impending death. I didn’t want it to happen. I wanted him to meet my love sooner. 

Ojiichan simply smiled and said, “Don’t you worry. I have something thought up, something only you would be able to pull off. Just you wait, you’ll find out when you’re older. And don’t worry about me! I’ve still got time left, Kai-kun. Maybe I’ll get to meet your love, one way or another. Just have faith and cheer up!”

* * *

“And I still haven’t figured out what he meant by that.” I said, sobbing. Tears were gushing out of my eyes as I finished up the story. It was hard going back and remembering all that stuff about Ojiichan and telling it to Gabe. I’ve never been this open about my family life to anyone. It really brings out the tears, talking about touchy feely things like this. 

“Wow…” Gabe was gawking by the time I finished up. I think he was having a hard time believing all of that, “I’m just… damn. Your grandfather was a wonderful person. I wish I could’ve met him myself.” 

“Me too. He would’ve liked you, Gabe, even with all your rules following.” I chuckled, wiping away some of the tears. 

“I’m really impressed he came out as bi so late in life.” Gabe pointed out, “That must’ve taken a lot of courage to say that to his grandson.” 

“I’ll say. How do you think I felt? A little ten year old who didn’t know liking guys was even an option!” I couldn’t help but burst out into laughter at that point. It really was preposterous that he told me all those things when I was still so young. I knew nothing about LGBTQ history or what it even was, and here was my grandfather coming out as bisexual just like that. “I can’t tell you how much of an impact that admission had on me. I don’t even know if there’s a way to figure that out. Like scientifically figuring out how much of an impact it had on me. It’s not possible.” 

“Yeah I kinda get the picture.” Gabe said, rolling his eyes. I was being over the top again, and he wasn't having it. 

“But in all seriousness, I think he knew.” 

“Knew what?” 

“Knew that I was gay. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just feel like he somehow knew it before I did that I would turn out to be gay. He must’ve sensed something about me, or maybe he got a premonition from Amaterasu one day, or maybe he was just projecting his own struggle onto me, but either way I just… I just have this feeling deep down in my gut that even then, on that boat and in that dive, he knew that I was going to find love with another man.” I turned and looked Gabe dead in the eyes, “That I would find love with a guy like you.” I got Gabe to blush with that comment. Victory!

“Sadly though, he passed away two years ago. Heart attack. He was dead before he hit the floor.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Gabe said, putting his hand on my shoulder, just like Ojiichan used to do.

“It’s alright. I knew he wasn’t going to be around for much longer even back then. But I got to learn a lot from him in the short time that I knew him, and we still got to go on a lot of dives together before he died. I miss him a lot. I really do, and it’s been hard these last two years going without a steady diving partner. But now I don’t have to be alone anymore.” I gave Gabe another heartfelt look, “Because I found you.” 

I got another big blush out of him, “Aww… well I don’t think I’m quite at your grandfather’s level. I don’t know if I’ll ever be. Seems he was in a league all his own.” 

I shook my head, “That’s not a problem. You’re not just my diving partner, just like Ojiichan wasn’t. You’re also my boyfriend, and that means you’re far more special to me than a diving partner.” We were both getting pretty overwhelmed with emotion at that point, and both of us leaned in for a third kiss from that trip. Just like the others, it was painfully awkward with these big LAMA gears around our necks, but it was worth it. Sharing a kiss with Gabe is the best thing in the world, better than any diving and better than any gear. 

If I could find a way to kiss him underwater without drowning, I would. 

A warming, touching, heartfelt moment from the both of us… until Gabe decided to ask me another question. 

“What else did you learn from your grandfather?” he asked, just as we finished our kiss. I couldn’t tell you why I felt like answering that with this. There were all sorts of answers that I could’ve given him for this question, but I guess I was feeling a little silly and maybe a little irked that he didn’t just decide to stay quiet in our little moment, so I decided to throw him a curveball. 

“Well he told me to keep a condom in my wallet at all times.” I winked, “Y’know just in case I make it to second base or something.”

Gabe’s face immediately turned lava red, as he was flustered beyond all imagination. He then went on to tear into me with one of his rules based tirades, telling me it was way too improper for a fourteen year old middle school student to be keeping condoms around him at all, and that his grandfather was an awful person for suggesting such a thing to some younger than twelve. 

“What was that man thinking telling you that at such a young age?! Where’s the decency in that?! I hope you’re not planning to have sex with me tonight because I’m telling you right now IT IS NOT HAPPENING!” 

“Not ever? Or just not tonight?” I cooed, egging him on. He just got more flustered with this one, because he didn’t have a good answer for that one. Gabe is so cute when he’s upset, all red in the cheeks and flailing his arms around angrily, and he’s so easy to provoke too. He’s basically asking for it, and I got him going with this one just like all the others. 

Hook. Line. Sinker. I should carry popcorn for these sorts of things. 


End file.
